The IT Experts Podcast

In this episode of the IT Experts Podcast, we talk to Yusuf McNulty, who is an absolute Email Warrior and we lovingly know him as Mac. He is a former Teacher turned Copywriter.

In today's show, we talk about the Fundamentals of Email Marketing, which is exciting because as we all know, emails lead to leads.

So, the purpose of the show, the reason that we've put this together today is to help the IT, MSP and Tech community when it comes to nurturing leads, nurturing your prospects, even delivering value to your clients through Email Marketing.

And we hear a lot of people talking about EMAIL IS DEAD, don't worry about the email it just doesn't work anymore and this simply isn't true.

So in today's show, Mac's going to help us to understand what we should be doing when it comes to email marketing, what we should be writing, how often we should be writing, all this and more and I know this can be a real value set to all IT and Tech Business owners.

According to Mac, he helps people get a grip on Email Marketing, because there's a lot of misconceptions about it. There is also a lot of abusive email marketing out there, like people doing it wrong, spamming and also not getting any effective results with it.

He added that the first thing to understand with email, is to remove any kind of previous assumptions you have about it.

The reality is that literally everyone has an email address, and the beauty of email is that it's something you have some form of ownership over.

So, for anyone running a business, it's very important to not just look at, revenue and turnover and things like that, but looking at assets that you own.

I mean, business really is data. And I completely agree that Social Media Marketing is important, and we should be doing it. But I'm very big on owning your own data.

And one of the best ways of earning data is building your own email list.

Once you have your own email list, that's something that you can export, you can back up, you can put it on a hard drive, you can put it in the cloud, you can put it in multiple places, and you can keep it up to date.

Moreover, the fact Mac reminds us that that email is an extremely private form of communication, its basically a one to one conversation with someone who could be your potential client.

Amongst other things on the show,we talked about;

1. The fundamentals of Email Marketing, what are the top three things that people need to consider.

2. What else are the key points that we need to understand from an email marketing point of view.

3. What are some of the key steps to know when building your CRM and nurturing your leads.

4. What are the types of content that we should put out there that adds value to the recipeint.

5. What's the difference between Email Automation vs Broadcast Emails

6. What different Email platforms are out there.

It's only a short podcast, but its full of Value Bombs as usual! all to help you get a better understanding on how Email Marketing works and how it can definitely help your IT, MSP and Tech Business.

I hope you enjoy the show

You can contact Mac by joining his email list "bit.ly/join-MacMail" you can also find him on Facebook by searching for Yusuf McNulty

So, what is a peer support group and how does it work?

Business Owners' peer groups have been around for many, many years. I first heard of them while I was reading Napoleon Hill's book Think and Grow Rich.

It's basically where business owners come together, build trust, build rapport, and share with each other the challenges and successes in their businesses. This powerful combination of connection and knowledge helps them to grow their businesses and to make business not such a lonely place.

In this episode, I run through some of the key elements of a good peer group and how they work.

Among other things I talked about:

1. Growth and Giving mindset and how it had a big impact towards the business.
2. Different types of peer groups.
3. Peer Group format
4. Overall Peer group concept
5. The Shiny Ball Syndrome
6. The importance of staying on track and having that accountability
7. My own peer group "The IT Experts Mastermind"

So, it's only a short podcast that I just wanted to just explain a little bit more about peer groups and how they work. I would absolutely love for you to come and experience how the IT experts Masterminds work.

I would absolutely love for you to come and experience how the IT Experts Mastermind work.

All you need to do on this is just click the link HERE (https://innovatetosuccess.com/mm-experience/) and you'll see there the brochure and you'll be able to learn more about how IT Experts Mastermind can help you take your business to your next level.

And that's pretty much it for me today. I'd love for you to go and check out some of the other podcasts over on the podcast page on the website https://innovatetosuccess.com/itega-podcast/.

And if there's anything that you'd like to see if there's anything you'd like to hear, see whether you're on YouTube https://youtu.be/1cIFVb3ck2E or whether you're on an audio version, then just drop us an email at [email protected] or put us a message through the website.

And we'll be more than happy to put some content together to help you out.

You can also download our E-book How to Grow Your IT & Tech Business by clicking this link – http://tiny.cc/ITE-Ebook19

That's it for me today. I hope you've enjoyed the show.

Terry emphasises that your website is and should be at the center of your marketing efforts.

If your website isn't fit for purpose, no matter how much you spend on ads, Google, social media -- they all go to waste.

We also discussed how in this day and age marketing is no longer one job. Marketing is now all about being a good writer, good designer, having lots of social media skills, SEO, email, Pay Per Click video, HTML, event, etc.

Terry also talked about the only two reasons why people buy, and that is to increase their sales, or reduce their costs.

He also shared with us his winning marketing methodology which is the ATTRACT, ENGAGE, NURTURE, CLOSE method. It follows:

1. Attract - How to Attract attention by increasing online activity and social interaction

2. Engage - Turning Visitors into Leads by creating Interest and capture new contacts

3. Nurture - Educating and building credibility. Moving leads to awareness and creates sales leads

4. Close - Essentially closing sales deals, creating new customers and building incremental sales

We also covered the different online marketing channels -- each organisation's target market may be on different social media platforms and we need to focus on the ones that matter when growing your IT, MSP or Tech Business.

If you are looking to scale your IT, MSP and Tech Business and don't know where to start, then check out the IT Experts Growth Accelerator here http://bit.ly/ITEXPERTS

You can also download our E-book How to Grow Your IT & Tech Business by clicking this link – http://tiny.cc/ITE-Ebook19

You will learn, how do business strategies work in the tech space? What are its key elements? and also, if it is really as much HARD work as most would believe? (Nope!)

Get your notepad ready for this episode that's full of useful tips and tricks that you can easily follow and use in your IT and Tech business.

But before anything else, let me just remind you that your people are the main engine of your organisation. No matter how good your business strategy is, if you're people are not aligned, not focused, not sharing the same directions as you, and you're not supporting them, your business strategies won't do much.

That is why we have developed the People Performance Programme to share with you what you can do to have a better team.

Here are my top tips on this:

1. Have Strong Leadership - Be a strong, consistent leader.

2. Only Quality People - Hire people that supports and works hard for the business.

3. Efficient Systems and Processes - You need to have clear systems and processes that help your team to work efficiently.

4. Robust Reporting - Helps you monitor that everything in your organisation works!

To better understand how business strategies work in your IT and Tech business, I've broken it down into 5 bite-sized chunks, they are:

1. Strategy is a methodology - Look at your values, vision, and mission statements.

2. Have a Growth Mindset - unless you have a mindset to grow, all strategies won't necessarily work.

3. Employee Engagement (Culture that you set!) - Understand how important leading people is rather than managing people.

4. Have a Planning System - Set a compass for where you want to take your business.

5. Measurement - What gets measured gets done. What gets measured and reported gets done even quicker and in a higher quality.

Once you've understood these steps, you'll have a better handle on what you're doing on your business and you will realise that taking your business to the next level isn't as complicated as you thought it was.

If you are looking to scale your IT, MSP and Tech Business and don't know where to start, then check out the IT Experts Growth Accelerator on our website http://bit.ly/ITEXPERTS

You can also download our E-book How to Grow Your IT & Tech Business by clicking this link – http://tiny.cc/ITE-Ebook19

In this episode of the IT Experts Podcast, I share with you a few secrets on How to Build a High Performing Remote Technical Team. This will help you to increase their productivity and employee engagement and when you master all this, you will ultimately see an increase in your profitability.

It has been a few difficult months in business since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and most businesses have had to adapt to the new normal very quickly, which for most involves social distancing and working remotely.

I have spent the past 20+ years developing leadership roles in the business that focus on making sure that members of staff feel included, important, and productive.

What's critical here is that by adopting a few Leadership fundamentals when leading your teams, you can now have a high performing team that can also be remote.

Here is the main elements to this show:

1. Have a Clear Structure - Everybody must know where they stand in the business and who they report to.

2. Performance Management - You need to have a way of recognising brilliance, who is working hard at propelling the business forward. You also need a way to address the other end of the spectrum when things aren't going well and performance dips.

3. Training and Capacity - Develop a competency matrix and identify what skills your team has and what training they need.

4. Get the Right Tech - This can boil down to their internet speed, their hardware, software. Make sure that the tools they are using work and promote a productive workspace.

5. Employee Engagement - This is the one sign of a great leader, make sure your team is engaged and wants to drive the business forward because they have a purpose.

6. Empower Each Other - Make sure that your team knows what they are doing right and give them a platform to provide feedback.

7. Have a Social - Have a regular social meeting to help build your team's relationship and keep them in a positive mindset.

8. Mental Health and Wellbeing -Working remotely can have an effect on an employee's wellbeing, identify when things are not going well and set up mechanisms to deal with issues as and when they arise.

I hope you enjoyed this episode; let me know which sections you are already adapting in your own business, and which ones will you be adapting soon.

If you are looking to scale your IT, MSP and Tech Business and don't know where to start, then check out the IT Experts Growth Accelerator on our website http://bit.ly/ITEXPERTS

You can also download our E-book How to Grow Your IT & Tech Business by clicking this link – http://tiny.cc/ITE-Ebook19

These days, everybody seems to be busy which is great, but the real question you should be asking is are you busy taking your business to the next level? Or are you being consumed by working too much IN the technical side of your business?

That being said, It is very important that you have a good grasp of key revenue-generating activities in your business right now, as this will give you the best chance of surviving any difficult times that lay ahead.

One thing that all successful business owners have in common is that they are all productive!

So, let me share with you my eight time management tips for IT, MSP, and Tech businesses:

1. Have a business and personal vision - Whatever you're doing, visualise your end goal.

2. Understand the Pareto Principle (80-20 Rule) - 20% of the work you do delivers 80% of your results.

3. Delegation - Have a clarity on your £10 - £100 - £1000 tasks and delegate accordingly.

4. Work Your Calendar - plan out your week in advance, book your diary ahead, and stick to it.

5. Automate Your Bookings - use a system to make setting an appointment as easy as possible, while letting you choose when you allow to get distracted.

6. Eat That Frog! - Avoid procrastinating on the tasks that you don't love doing.

7. Avoiding Distractions - make sure that people don't disrupt you when you don't want to be disrupted.

8. Get an Accountability Buddy

I hope you enjoyed this episode, it would be great to hear what is working well for you right now and your own Time Management productivity hacks.

If you are looking to scale your IT, MSP and Tech Business and don't know where to start, then check out the IT Experts Growth Accelerator on our website http://bit.ly/ITEXPERTS

You can also download the e-book by clicking this link – http://tiny.cc/ITE-Ebook19

In this IT Experts Podcast, I talked about the tried and tested model that we use to generate quality leads for our IT & Tech Clients. We help you to connect with people who need your services.

Why use LinkedIn? Simply put, LinkedIn is where professionals go to level up and connect in business.

Basically, it helps you generates high quality and qualified leads.

Hence, if you were to focus on only one channel for your company's lead generation, it should be LinkedIn. This is the best place for B2B marketers.

LinkedIn has over 500 million total users, and over half of them actively use the platform every month. That means that you have the opportunity to connect with thousands of your potential leads that are engaging on this amazing platform a regular basis.

More importantly, if your business offers a solution to their needs - Linkedin is the place to be.

Listen to the full Podcast to learn the 9-key elements to Lead Gen success that we help our clients with every day.

They are:

Have a Killer Profile (5:15) – A good quality profile that it explains a little about what you do and how you help.

Have a clear Target Market (8:22) – Have absolute clarity who your target Avatar is.

Content (10:50) - Give your Target Market quality, regular, value-based contents.

Engagement (14:15) - Engage and position yourself as an expert to build up your credibility.

Focused Outreach Strategy (15:17) - Find the people you want to connect with, start a conversation to build up your network.

Personal vs Company Profile (17:30) - Vary the content content that you post on your personal profile against your company profile for your prospects.

Call to Action (CTA) (18:52) - It has to be clear and it should resonate to your target market so they would clearly understand what you want them to do next.

Social Selling Index (SSI) (20:30) - A LinkedIn Algorithm that rates your activities. Check it out at Linkedin.com/sales/ssi

Bots (21:34) - Organic Leads has much better conversion rates than using bots in generating your Leads.

If you are looking to scale your IT / Tech Consultancy Business and don't know where to start, then check out the IT Experts Growth Accelerator on our website http://bit.ly/ITEXPERTS

You can also download the e-book by clicking this link - http://tiny.cc/ITE-Ebook19

In this episode, I talk with Fisayo Olusegun, Creative Content Creator of Anointed Words and we will be talking about "Copywriting Essentials."

By learning how to make a well-written copywriting is very essential because it drives profitability, earns a Return on Investment (ROI) and achieves your business' goals by convincing your target customer that your product offering will solve their need and offer them value.

With that, we will be sharing with you today, some tips and tricks of massive value into the community and help you write better web pages, write better content, write better copy, so that you can resonate in a kind of a non-technical way.

The purpose of this episode is to shed some knowledge and some light on some practices that will help anyone listening, especially IoT and Tech Business owners.

By understanding the basic knowledge of copywriting, this will help them with their content and help them put the material out there in ways that will draw more customers to them and draw people who need their solutions to that.

According to Fisy, IT & Tech businesses shouldn't necessarily always write their own material.

Why? because they are too close to the work, so they don't see it from the external point of view which is basically very important. And that is to see things from your customers perspective.

And copywriting has one purpose and one purpose only - to sell a specific product or service to your target market.

Ian added, the key takeaway for him and what he learned so far in his business journeys is that we can't do everything, we can't be all things to all men and women.

Here are the important topics they talked about:

1. The Basics of copywriting.
2. Types of copywriting
3. Different methods/approach used in copywriting.
4. Some of the fundamental mistakes made in doing the copywriting.
5. Copywriting structure.
6. How to construct the perfect headline to attract your target market.
7. How google interprets/analyze your copy.

ITS Quick Fire Round If you are to bottle one part of your business journey and sell it. What would it be and why? Skill of copywriting – Copywriting sells itself. It is great in good times. And it's even better when things get rough. For example, during this period of COVID, and all that, I've been the busiest I've ever been as a copywriter. What is your biggest learning / regret about scaling your business? You can't do it all alone – So, yeah, it's quick and easy, maybe corny to some people but the hardheaded always have to feel it to believe it. So, I did it last year, try it by myself. got to the point where you can't do the marketing and do the work at the same time while you're doing the work if the market is not happening a couple of weeks later, you have no more work because no marks no marketing, it's been gone. You can't do it. You got to delegate. Get people in that you trust, build a team around you. What is your favourite app on your phone and why? LinkedIn. the reason being is I don't have a website I don't have anything else. I do social media marketing. Guest Details To contact Fisayo, you may connect with him through Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/fisayo-olusegun/ If you are looking to scale your IT / Tech Consultancy Business and don't know where to start, then check out the IT Experts Growth Accelerator on our website http://tiny.cc/ITEXPERTS You can also download the e-book by clicking this link - http://tiny.cc/ITE-Ebook19 Quotes You can't do it all alone. You can't do it. You got to delegate. Get people in that you trust, build a team around you. – Fisayo Olusegun

In this very special edition of the IT Experts Podcast, I talked with John Allard – founder of The Video News Factory Ltd in Milton Keynes.

Today, you will learn the importance of using the right video for your Marketing strategy in making your content marketing, website brand building and all other different elements to help you through with your IT and Tech Business.

The purpose of this episode is to explain and share with you why videos are important and effective in the whole marketing strategy and how videos boost customer acquisition.

In our modern world, video is king. Online video consumption continues to rise at an astonishing pace because people are watching videos on the internet all the time.

As video marketing becomes more affordable and widespread, it's becoming easier for smaller businesses to leverage the power of video and acquire more customers.

With a smart, focused video marketing strategy, you'll be able to engage with potential leads more effectively, increase conversion rates, and drive more sales.

According to John, a new era has evolved, allowing each brand to become a broadcaster.

You've got to know your audience, program schedules and most importantly you must be consistent in you content. If you've got listeners and viewers, you'll want to keep and grow them.

ALWAYS CREATE A HOOK – a contract between you and your viewers promising to deliver them value by offering them something powerful and interesting if they keep tuned in for the next 10-20mins because if not what's even the point of being there.

You must have that Wow Factor, the sense of empowerment. Having a powerful media presence that affects the beliefs of your viewers. Delivering the right values or message to your clients.

Other topics we've talked about are:

• Most common type of video use in Marketing.
• When should people used animation on a website instead of a video?
• What are some of the mistakes people make when making a video?
• What are some of the things the people need to do to get it right?

Furthermore, John Allard said you only need one marketing & content plan and sales strategy. The more you think about integration, the more effective it's going to be. Combine this with the right marketing and growth plan it will help your IT and tech Business succeed.

ITS Quick Fire Round

If you are to bottle one part of your business journey and sell it. What would it be and why?

Start with an agile mentality. In business, you got to have a plan so you will have flexibility, agility and a strategy whenever there is a disaster in which you can flip around and turn it into an opportunity.

What is your biggest learning / regret about scaling your business?

Partnerships – I think when you are a small business, keep partnerships going. The best partnerships are the ones maintaining its integrity.

What is your favourite app on your phone and why?

Liver view - It allows me to see on my app what is going on with my body.

Guest Details

To contact John Allard, connect with him on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/thevideonewsfactory/

We work on partnership; we offer very low entry to know what is like to work with us.

If you are looking to scale your IT / Tech Consultancy Business and don't know where to start, then check out the IT Experts Growth Accelerator on our website http://tiny.cc/ITEXPERTS

You can also download the e-book by clicking this link - http://tiny.cc/ITE-Ebook19

Quotes

It's a new ball game/era that's evolved allowing each brand to become a proper broadcaster. You've got to know your audience, program schedules and most importantly you must be out there regularly. If you've got listeners and viewers, you want to keep and grow them. – John Allard

In this episode, I talk about "Surviving Major Business Disruption and beyond"

As Business owners, we are continually faced with challenges, difficulties and temporary setbacks. They are unavoidable and inevitable.

By learning stress management and how respond with a positive attitude to each challenge, will help you grow as a person and continue moving forward.

We must be optimistic, this can help with coping with the daily affairs of life and business.

I'm going to be sharing with you some tactical tips and tricks to help you get through during this difficult time, so you can emerge out of this ahead of your competitors.

The purpose of this episode is to talk about the Corona Virus Pandemic and the worldwide disruption it has caused.

We can survive and thrive and in this podcast, I share with you how to deal with business disruption and change in general.

There's been a lot of hype and noise going on, Constant negativity in the press can be so stressful.

I know it's very sad and devastating, but I believe, now is the time that we should all step back and just take a little bit of time to put things into perspective.

Remember, we can never grow whilst in a negative mindset, not just in business but in all aspects of life.

With that, it is very important to adapt and change your mindset into a positive point of view.

Look for opportunities from an entrepreneurial point of view and find a way on how we can serve the client better.

We should also understand and know when people are struggling.

Thus, having a PLAN and maintaining your profit margin by knowing where your cash flow is coming from is very important.

Listen to the full podcast to find out more about the five-key element of our IT EXPERTS MODEL.

• Personal Development
• Business Development
• People Planning
• Finance and commercial
• Business Performance

Using these 5-key elements will certainly help you achieve a positive outcome with your IT and Tech Business.

Details If you are looking to scale your IT / Tech Consultancy Business and don't know where to start, then check out the IT Experts Growth Accelerator on our website http://tiny.cc/ITEXPERTS

You can also download the e-book by clicking this link - http://tiny.cc/ITE-Ebook19 Quotes You can never grow your business when you are being negative - Ian Luckett