The IT Experts Podcast

First things first, Karl shares how he started in the IT & MSP space, how it all began for him, and how he got to where he is today.

Karl says he has loved technology from day one and that took him to who he is now.

Karl and I exchange sharing career experiences and he shares how he learned a lot about "the right way to do things".

We then briefly talk about one of Karl's key pillars to his thinking which is around prioritisation of what you're doing and not be interrupt-driven. Both of us agree that contrary to popular beliefs, business isn't what makes us successful.

Karl says that before MSPs become independent, they are judged by the amount of business and stress they have but actually, none of those two contributes to an MSP's success.

Karl and I then tackle company culture, and I ask him when he realised that it is one of the key pillars to business success. Karl thinks most consultants go into business because of bad bosses. We also weigh in on good and bad bosses and we both agree that good company culture is all about building relationships.

We then move on to talking about client management and Karl shares his tips on the key things MSPs need to focus on to ensure that they make the money and keep their clients well.

Karl says it's a rule of life to only work with people you like and like you. He also highlights that with clients, it's a must to always be engaging in a high-level, two-way conversation with clients.

As a result, MSPs can properly determine what shall be done and then go and put those things in place. Communication is key.

Karl and I also briefly talk about sales and having quarterly business reviews, which he calls road map meetings.

We then continued to tackle finance by asking Karl about some of the fundaments that MSPs should consider in terms of profitability, and Karl answers with "Get prepaid for everything."

He then explains how and why it matters. We also talk about Karl's comment that I noted, saying that it's not our responsibility to save our client's money, and why it's something for an MSP to consider.

Finally, Karl and I talk about service delivery. I ask Karl what things MSPs should really consider in making sure that their service delivery toolbox is ticked off and he answers, having a PSA. It's not absolutely necessary but it's very useful to keep track of everything that needs to be done, and I relate it to scalability.

To wrap up this value-loaded episode, I ask Karl for two tips for MSPs, one for the 6-figure MSPs and one for the 7-figure MSPs. Don't miss it!

I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as Karl and I enjoyed creating it. This is a truly pillar episode of the series and I suggest that you listen to this episode as many times as you can and make sure you get every ounce of value from this pillar episode.

You can reach out to Karl Palachuk in his social media accounts here –

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/karlpalachuk

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karlpalachuk/

You can also visit Karl Palachuk's website at – www.smallbizthoughts.com

Or his community website at – www.smallbizthoughts.org

Download Karl Palachuk's book here – https://www.absolutelyunbreakablerules.com/

You can access all the other IT Experts Podcasts here – https://innovatetosuccess.com/podcast/

If you're looking to scale your IT & MSP business and you don't know where to start, just navigate and explore here on our website www.innovatetosuccess.com where we've got a whole load of tips, tricks, strategies and community to help you grow and scale your IT and your MSP business.

I also invite you to come and take the IT experts test and we can help you to work out what to focus on right now to get you the quickest results in your business. You can take the test here – https://bit.ly/ITEtest

If we're not connected already, let's connect on LinkedIn, YouTube and over here at our website, innovatetosuccess.com

Alternatively, you can drop me an email at [email protected]

Until next time, you look after yourself and I'll catch up with you soon!

To start with, Dave introduced himself and shares what they do in Wingman MSP Marketing.

I briefly ask him about his insights about lead generation and how Dave thinks the marketing has changed for the MSP over the last 18 months. He says that the most important thing now is to focus on how MSPs are going to pick apart their relationship now with their clients. MSPs have now got to own the market and be all over their clients.

We also talk about niche marketing specializing in a particular sector, and Dave thinks it's the only way to own the market and really put yourself apart from a lot of MSPs. We both agree that MSPs should focus more on selling business outcomes rather than the tech.

Dave and I then continued to discuss the three pillars to MSP marketing success which are:

1. Audience
2. Messaging
3. Broadcast

Dave and I go on to dissect each pillar and discuss what to do about it and how it's important.

We talk about how to create an audience and how to build value around them. Dave highlights that the first step is to understand the language around it. Leads come from prospects, and prospects come from suspects. Audience segmentation is also important as you start to move down the pipeline and Dave explains the key thing to do when taking a slightly different approach.

We then tackle the messaging and I ask Dave how do we make our messages different. Dave emphasizes that your messages have to be sexy or scary to get people's attention. If you do something that they feel is relevant to them, that is what's going to make them stop scrolling and check your message.

Use a pain point for the front end and give them a story that resonates with them to get their attention.

Finally, we discuss the third pillar which is the broadcast, where I ask Dave the importance of becoming the subject matter expert and understanding the whole process of code to solve the sales funnel when MSPs are starting to attract leads. Dave says that there is a lot of steps involved, a lot more work needed, a lot more qualification, and a lot more pain to spot. The key thing is to take them through the journey and qualify them into the different pockets at different stages. Build out the sales process and have a good CRM structure to manage that so you know where they are at.

To wrap up, Dave and I briefly discuss multi-channel marketing for your broadcast and the successful ways for MSPs to use it. Dave says to not just rely on social media and SEO for clients to come find you, because it's almost too late at that point. The bigger element is to be all over them like a rash consistently but not persistently.

I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as we love creating it and gives you massive value in achieving your MSP marketing success.

You can reach out to Dave Sutton in his LinkedIn here – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-sutton-870090154/

Or you can visit Wingman MSP Marketing website at – https://www.wearewingman.co.uk/

You can access all the other IT Experts Podcasts here – https://innovatetosuccess.com/podcast/

If you're looking to scale your IT & MSP business and you don't know where to start, just navigate and explore here on our website www.innovatetosuccess.com where we've got a whole load of tips, tricks, strategies and community to help you grow and scale your IT and your MSP business.

I also invite you to come and take the IT experts test and we can help you to work out what to focus on right now to get you the quickest results in your business. You can take the test here – https://bit.ly/ITEtest

If we're not connected already, let's connect on LinkedIn, YouTube and over here at our website, innovatetosuccess.com

Alternatively, you can drop me an email at [email protected]

Until next time, you look after yourself and I'll catch up with you soon!

As usual, we kicked off the show with Jay sharing more about who he is, what he does, and who he helps. Jay shares a little more about his amazing career and experience over the years and how he has been in the middle of the MSP space.

Jay also shares his DISC profile and how it contributed to his career experience at IBM.

We then discussed the possible big changes in the MSP landscape post-Covid and how's it looking for MSPs right now. Jay initially states that he thinks that with Covid, we all are in the middle of something with no direct vision of when it's going to end or how.

So, what MSPs can do is look at the trends within the pandemic and take advantage of it. Jay highlights that automation is the number one opportunity in the world right now.

We are not in the office-centric world anymore with major Fortune-style companies shutting down headquarters locations. He re-iterated that work is what we do, not where we go.

Jay then talked about how big tech companies are growing over the last year as a result of the demand during the pandemic. And we both agreed how technology is not now a luxury and the world is slowly understanding that it's almost as important as electricity.

He also highlights that all of the 27 industries are going through major transformations right now, companies are spending billions of dollars in terms of rethinking their business for the post-Covid world, which is going to be highly digital, looking a lot like the inter-Covid world.

Jay and I then tackled the product services and solutions that MSPs must start getting their heads around that demand is going to be forced for them in the space. Jay talks about the emerging techs they are looking at in Forrester and that a lot of those techs are here right now. He then says to focus on following your customers and follow the opportunities that are there.

The reason why Managed Services is a good business model is because you can never have anybody on the bench. You have experts who see the same problem at different companies, and they come in with that expertise.

Finally, to wrap up the show, Jay and I talked about where's the best place or platform to get the right information from, where he recommends people would get their news and know what's relevant. Jay advises finding a place or platform where you feel comfortable to consume this information and really motivates you to engage with like-minded people.

These show notes do not do justice to the massive amount of information and values that this episode offers. We suggest you listen to this episode as much as you need to digest all this information!

You can reach out to Jay McBain in his LinkedIn here – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaymcbain/

You can access all the other IT Experts Podcasts here – https://innovatetosuccess.com/podcast/

If you're looking to scale your IT & MSP business and you don't know where to start, just navigate and explore here on our website www.innovatetosuccess.com where we've got a whole load of tips, tricks, strategies and community to help you grow and scale your IT and your MSP business.

I also invite you to come and take the IT experts test and we can help you to work out what to focus on right now to get you the quickest results in your business. You can take the test here – https://bit.ly/ITEtest

If we're not connected already, let's connect on LinkedIn, YouTube and over here at our website, innovatetosuccess.com

Alternatively, you can drop me an email at [email protected]

Until next time, you look after yourself and I'll catch up with you soon!

In today's episode, we are joined by Luke Mead from the LMS Group, a multi-7 figure MSP -- which started at the age of 15, while working at a part-time job cleaning gravy pans one fateful Wednesday in a local restaurant.

Luke started the business so young at his parents' dining room and still needed to be driven to his clients' offices. He registered his Ltd company back in 2010 at 19 years old, with their first official office right above a kitchen restaurant.

Today, LMS Group is a multi-awarded and accredited MSP business with a team of expert IT consultants and support technicians who help businesses, regardless of industry, with their IT needs.

We also talked about how in the early days Luke took a leap of faith and decided to work on scaling the business which includes hiring a new team member and getting a loan.

Luke shared how having systems and processes in place even in the company's early days, at the FOUNDATION level, have helped him scale the business.

We also talked about how important it is to take care of your employees -- Luke even has an in-house pub in the office now!

I hope that you enjoy this episode and that you've picked some tips that you can apply in your own MSP business.

You can reach out to Luke Mead on his LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukemead/

You can also visit the LMS Group website here – https://lms.group/

You can access all the other IT Experts Podcasts here – https://innovatetosuccess.com/podcast/

If you're looking to scale your IT & MSP business and you don't know where to start, just navigate and explore here on our website www.innovatetosuccess.com where we've got a whole load of tips, tricks, strategies, and community to help you grow and scale your IT and your MSP business.

I also invite you to come and take the IT experts test and we can help you to work out what to focus on right now to get you the quickest results in your business. You can take the test here – https://bit.ly/ITEtest

If we're not connected already, let's connect on LinkedIn, YouTube, and over here at our website, innovatetosuccess.com

Alternatively, you can drop me an email at [email protected]

Until next time, you look after yourself and I'll catch up with you soon!

In the business world, especially within the IT & MSP space, there had been and there will always be attacks. It's just a case of how they present themselves in the world. In this episode, we learn and understand how to react to them and most importantly, how to respond to them.

We kicked off the episode with Mostyn sharing with us who he is, what he does and who he helps. Mostyn is the CEO of Astrix and they specialise in cyber security for MSPs.

Mostyn and I started by discussing what he would personally say to MSPs who say that they know what they are doing when it comes to cyber threats or attacks.

Mostyn highlights that sometimes MSPs don't actually know much about their clients and their services aren't focused on what is missing and this is vulnerability discovery.

We then talked about the mindset around security. I asked Mostyn what are some of the things that he's seeing at the moment that are challenging business owners, particularly the IT & MSP space. Mostyn reiterates that it is a little bit of that false sense of security. He then explained in this detail.

One tip from Mostyn was to focus on your email security.

Mostyn and I both agree that this is the same conversation about which CRM we should choose, and you choose the one that suits the business right now for what you need.

We also talk about reaction and response when a cyber-attack happens, and Mostyn gives his recommendations for an MSP business owner when an event happens.

Another tip from Mostyn is to first of all, as an MSP business owner, it's useful to build a network of good connections of people that you trust, and it ties very well together when you come across cyber threats in your business.

We also reflect on a recent attack that we have heard from our space, and we talk about how it was taken on not only by the ones who were affected but also by those who only heard it happen. Mostyn and I continued to discuss and understand the business interruption, data disaster recovery and business continuity that comes from and after an attack.

Mostyn says that flexibility and resilience in mind are important.

We also exchanged our perspectives in terms of backing up and both agree that the old-fashioned way of backing up as well as the robust way are both key things to do.

Finally, we wrapped up the episode with Mostyn sharing all the ways that he can be contacted should you want to keep the conversation going!

You can reach out to Mostyn Thomas in his LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsecuritywales/ or you can email him at [email protected]

You can also visit Astrix website here – https://astrix.co.uk/

You can access all the other IT Experts Podcasts here – https://innovatetosuccess.com/podcast/

If you're looking to scale your IT & MSP business and you don't know where to start, just navigate and explore here on our website www.innovatetosuccess.com where we've got a whole load of tips, tricks, strategies and community to help you grow and scale your IT and your MSP business.

I also invite you to come and take the IT experts test and we can help you to work out what to focus on right now to get you the quickest results in your business. You can take the test here – https://bit.ly/ITEtest

If we're not connected already, let's connect on LinkedIn, YouTube and over here at our website, innovatetosuccess.com

Alternatively, you can drop me an email at [email protected]

Until next time, you look after yourself and I'll catch up with you soon!

To start, I share a brief summary of how Phil and I connected and then Phil went on to introduce himself, what he does and who he helps.

Phil shares that they specialise in looking at customers' usage of Microsoft 365, having noticed that there is a lot of underutilisation of the app and people are leaving value on the table. Phil says they think there is a great opportunity for partners particularly in the IT & MSP space.

Phil's company has conducted a lot of research, over 10,000 users in detail and have found that in general, only 11% of users are using all of their Microsoft 365 apps. In conclusion, they aren't getting the value of their Microsoft 365 subscriptions.

He also stated that when people leave and organisation, there's no recycling of subscriptions, and that's not just a waste of money but also a security issue.

Phil and I then continued on to talk about the jaw-dropping things that they find when they start working with a new client from the IT & MSP space. Phil responds with the two aspects to look at with Microsoft 365 optimisation, which is procurement and optimisation of usage. He then explains both aspects and what to do.

Phil creates an analogy that Microsoft 365 is just like a chocolate box, where you have got a lot of chocolates but only eating a few and throwing the rest away. He also talks about discounts in procurement.

We then continued to weigh in on 'whose fault' is it, business-wise, that a lot of organisations are in this position. Is it from the buying side where the person buying doesn't know what they're buying? Or is it through Microsoft's side where they bring out new apps from time to time that doesn't get promoted enough?

I then ask Phil to share about their Microsoft 365 Health Check, and how do we find out what our clients are missing? Phil says it's more like an efficiency check that will show clients a full assessment of how much money they're wasting and where they can get value. He then explains in detail how they do it so you can fully optimise your Microsoft 365 subscription.

Phil highlights that for their partners and MSPs, they see the opportunities to sell in value-added services and get extra revenue streams.

To wrap up the episode, Phil and I discuss a little bit about the future of where this technology and most importantly Microsoft 365 optimisation is going in the next few years. And Phil states that they are looking at endpoint management and shares briefly how it pans out.

I hope you enjoy this episode. It's honestly been a learning point for me and certainly a great discussion point for ourselves and the IT Experts Community.

You can access all the other IT Experts Podcasts here – https://innovatetosuccess.com/podcast/

If you want to learn more about what Phil Hames does or do a 365 health check, you can get in touch with him at [email protected] or visit their website www.businesssoftwarecentre.com

If you haven't seen it yet, come and join our community in our own IT Experts App – you can check it out here – https://bit.ly/ITE-COMM

If you're looking to scale your IT & MSP business and you don't know where to start, just navigate and explore here on our website www.innovatetosuccess.com where we've got a whole load of tips, tricks, strategies and community to help you grow and scale your IT and your MSP business.

I also invite you to come and take the IT experts test and we can help you to work out what to focus on right now to get you the quickest results in your business. You can take the test here – https://bit.ly/ITEtest

If we're not connected already, let's connect on LinkedIn, YouTube and over here at our website, innovatetosuccess.com

Alternatively, you can drop me an email at [email protected]

Until next time, you look after yourself and I'll catch up with you soon!

The podcast episode is called Beyond Awesome: Creating Systems for Success and in this episode, there is much vulnerability from me.

We begin the episode with myself sharing personal things like my story and who I am outside of the IT Experts Community. I also shared with Jason and Heather where I came from, why I'm doing what I'm doing and how we at IT Experts are helping the IT & MSP community.

I also share with you, and the guys from Bitdefender my favourite movie, and something that people don't know about me! Don't miss it.

We then continued to talk about insights on the system we at IT Experts created to help the IT & MSP community which is our MSP Profit Builder System.

I shared where it started and how it came together that now leads to IT Experts helping IT & MSP business owners grow and scale their business.

I also share how I have started meditation as one of the ways to help me focused.

Jason, Heather and I then tackled work life balance and integration. I highlighted that I make sure to remind my clients that they're spending time working on their business strategically, then allocate time working in their business technically, because this is how they will grow.

Jason and I also agreed that there's a workaholic in all of us and it is evident when we make conversations with people on a daily basis.

Finally, I shared with the guys one of our successes here at IT Experts which is being accredited in Thomas International DISC profiling, and that the main reason we've done it is so we can understand our clients better so I can coach them better.

Both Jason and Heather agreed that the DISC profile is a powerful tool for businesses to use.

I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as we enjoyed creating it with the guys from Bitdefender.

You can access all the other IT Experts Podcasts here – https://innovatetosuccess.com/podcast/

You can watch the original episode and in video from Bitdefender's Youtube channel here – https://youtu.be/Sxhu1MDifGw

If you're looking to scale your IT & MSP business and you don't know where to start, just navigate and explore here on our website www.innovatetosuccess.com where we've got a whole load of tips, tricks, strategies and community to help you grow and scale your it in your MSP business.

I also invite you to come and take the IT experts test and we can help you to work out what to focus on right now to get you the quickest results in your business. You can take the test here – https://bit.ly/ITEtest

If we're not connected already, let's connect on LinkedIn, YouTube and over here at our website, innovatetosuccess.com

Alternatively, you can drop me an email at [email protected]

Until next time, you look after yourself and I'll catch up with you soon!

I love to work in a collaborative manner with the members of the IT Experts community, but sometimes we need a bit of "Tough Love!

In this episode, I am telling you frankly to stop selling the tech in your MSP and check out this short sharp blast on what you should do instead and more importantly how to change your messaging to help resonate with your target market better

To begin with, I highlighted that not all MSPs are the same though they do the same function, just like business coaches!

I want to get you thinking about the business outcomes that you're fixing, solving and providing to your clients rather than the tech, because most times, as a techie business owner, we forget that.

I cover some key points because no one cares about the type of tech, they just want it to work.

Remember that your experiences with working with your target market is the key.

Create your own way, stop selling the tech in your MSP and start selling the BUSINESS outcomes.

I hope you enjoyed this short and sharp break fix episode, a bit of a rant but justified.

You can access all the other IT Experts Podcasts here – https://innovatetosuccess.com/podcast/

If you're looking to scale your IT & MSP business and you don't know where to start, just navigate and explore here on our website www.innovatetosuccess.com where we've got a whole load of tips, tricks, strategies and community to help you grow and scale your it in your MSP business.

I also invite you to come and take the IT experts test and we can help you to work out what to focus on right now to get you the quickest results in your business. You can take the test here – https://bit.ly/ITEtest

If we're not connected already, let's connect on LinkedIn, YouTube and over here at our website, innovatetosuccess.com

Alternatively, you can drop me an email at [email protected]

Until next time, you look after yourself and I'll catch up with you soon!

The SDC Channel Summit was a one-day summit including a series of 50-minute roundtable sessions educating MSPs on the key issues they face as they look to be a partner in their customers' digital transformation journey. I'm proud to have been part of this event and do the keynote speech on how to build high-performing teams that drives business growth.

In my keynote speech, I talked a little bit about our very own, the IT Experts MSP Profit Builder System, the Shadow of a Leader which is about how to coach people and also the elements of a successful business.

If you are involved in the IT Channel, then you are going to get massive value from listening to this episode.

You can access all the other IT Experts Podcasts here – https://innovatetosuccess.com/podcast/

If you want to watch the full video version of my keynote with the slide decks, as well as other keynotes, presentations and roundtable discussions, you can still register. All you need to do is click this link – https://sdc-channel.com/

If you haven't seen it yet, come and join our community in our own IT Experts App – you can check it out here – https://bit.ly/ITE-COMM

If you're looking to scale your IT & MSP business and you don't know where to start, just navigate and explore here on our website www.innovatetosuccess.com where we've got a whole load of tips, tricks, strategies and community to help you grow and scale your it in your MSP business.

I also invite you to come and take the IT experts test and we can help you to work out what to focus on right now to get you the quickest results in your business. You can take the test here – https://bit.ly/ITEtest

If we're not connected already, let's connect on LinkedIn, YouTube and over here at our website, innovatetosuccess.com

Alternatively, you can drop me an email at [email protected]

Until next time, you look after yourself and I'll catch up with you soon!

You may know that we have an amazing team based in the Philippines. I get asked a lot about my team, what we do, how we work and how we make it a great team?

I start this show by sharing some brief details about my team and how I want them to feel part of the business, not only with the successes but also with the challenges we'll go through to scale and grow.

I highlighted that though I want my team to work hard and give back to the business, at the same time I want all of us to have a bit of fun and enjoy a good time as well.

I also briefly shared with you that after getting some amazing success, we've gone from doing our own social media posting and lead generation ourselves to taking on to running a department we call 'IT Experts Business Services' where we not only do social media posting and lead generation but also branding, research and all sorts of tasks for other clients. But that's a discussion for another day!

So here are my 9 amazing, tried and tested tips, to help you build an amazing virtual team, even though they are thousands of miles away.

Here they are :

1. Set clear roles and responsibilities.
2. Run DISC profiles.
3. Give ownership.
4. Let them make mistakes.
5. Create and store voice-over instructions.
6. Take advantage of good systems.
7. Learn about them as "People".
8. Involve them in quarterly reviews.
9. Respect their environment.

Even though my team is over 7,000 miles away and I am absolutely blown away by the resourcefulness and initiative that they have, and by deploying some of these tactics in your business, you too can do exactly the same!

I hope you enjoy this quick show and if you need a hand with anything around remote teams, then give us a shout.

You can access all the other IT Experts Podcasts here – https://innovatetosuccess.com/podcast/

If you haven't seen it yet, come and join our community in our own IT Experts App – you can check it out here – https://bit.ly/ITE-COMM

If we're not connected already, let's connect on LinkedIn, YouTube and over here at our website, www.innovatetosuccess.com

Alternatively, you can drop me an email at [email protected]

Until next time, you look after yourself and I'll catch up with you soon!