IT CHANNEL INS IDER
4 Keys To Choosing The RIGHT Virtual Events In 2021
How Bruce McCully of
Galactic Advisors Generated Over $1 Million In NEW
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A Win-Win Campaign For Dell And Our Members
SALES Since Partnering With Big Red Media
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5 Irrefutable Signs It’s Time To Fire Your Salesperson And More From MSP Success! Page 7
June 2021 | Volume 4
A Big Red Media Production
Letter From The Editor
Upcoming Channel Events
Producers Club Meetings When: Q2 - July 15–17, 2021 Q3 - Oct. 7–9, 2021 Where: Cool Springs Marriott, Franklin, TN RobinsProducersClub.com
As I write this, we’re putting the final touches on the first big event back in the channel and I’m certain it is going to be a roar - ing success. If you missed it, check out Flickr.com/robinrobins to get a feel for the event. I can guarantee that it was amazing! COVID-19 isn’t over quite yet, but we’re all on our way to kicking its butt and getting back to “business as normal.” Thanks to the effects of COVID-19, we here at Technology Marketing Toolkit/Big Red Media have seen a big shift that has changed the industry forever … • The popularity of virtual events • A huge surge in digital marketing within the channel What started out as a necessary shift to keep the lead flow coming in has turned into “business as usual” for many MSP channel companies. The big question I keep on hearing is what’s going to happen once live events come back in full force? In this issue, we dive deep into this question with an excel - lent digital marketing case study from Dell and our tips on how to pick the BEST virtual events to sponsor moving forward. Additionally, in this issue, I’m so happy to feature a good friend of the Robin Robins community, Bruce McCully. I first met Bruce as a new Producers Club member seven years ago when he joined the group for his MSP, Dynamic Edge. With of - fices in both Nashville and Michigan, Bruce has long been a wel - come face in our office and at Producers Club meetings. Over the years, he grew (and then eventually sold) Dynamic Edge into a thriving monster of an MSP and was a two-time Better Your Best contest finalist (our top MSP competition each year at Technology Marketing Toolkits IT Sales And Marketing Boot Camp). When Bruce came to me last January during our London MSP event with the idea for a new channel-focused company, I was certain from the start that it would be a hit … not because of the concept, but because of the leader that was ready to start the company — Bruce. Fast forward to 2021 and Bruce has gone all in on Galactic Advisors and all in on the Robin Robins com - munity, already netting $1 Million-plus in first-year revenues from this community alone. His story is one that any channel company leader can learn and grow from. Hope you enjoy!
The New Digital Marketing Roadshow
When & Where: Sept. 8–9, 2021 | Washington, D.C.
Sept. 28–29, 2021| Dallas, TX Oct. 21–22, 2021| Newark, NJ Oct. 28–29, 2021| Chicago, IL Nov. 2–3, 2021| Las Vegas, NV (Plus Virtual) BigRedMedia.com/events/roadshow
IT Nation Secure When: June 21–23, 2021 ConnectWise.com/theitnation
dattoCon When: Oct. 11–14, 2021 DattoCon.com
ConnectIT When: Oct. 19–22, 2021 ConnectIT.com
Jeff Johnson Executive Director, Big Red Media
For a complete list of channel events, visit MSPSuccessMagazine.com/channel-events
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Big Red Media | A Robin Robins Company
4 Keys To Choosing The RIGHT Virtual Events In 2021 A fter a year or more when live, in-person events were a rarity, we know some channel companies may be burned out on virtual events. However, even as live events are making a comeback, there is still tremendous value in partnering with virtual events.
First, virtual events can reach more of your target au- dience. Even with vaccinations available, not everybody is ready or even capable of attending a live event. Plus, inter - national travel, including Canada, may be restricted quite a while longer. Virtual events side step these obstacles. Second, companies can bring more of their teams to virtual events. Without the expense and productivity slide of live events, MSPs can now bring additional decision-makers or influencers (technical staff, business partners, spouses, etc.) to events like never before. Therefore, you can connect with more company decision-makers. Third, virtual events can offer greater connection op- portunities and better lead generation. Instantly engage with your target audience at any time and showcase your products or services through virtual social communities. Plus, you can capture attendee leads without attracting them to a physical booth. The fact is that the number of quality leads, lucrative con - nections, and new sales you receive all depend on choosing the RIGHT virtual event using these four critical keys. Key 1: Aligning With The RIGHT Platform Virtual event platforms today can range from a glorified Zoom call to our own platform at BigRedVirtual.com , which comes surprisingly close to a live event. We’ve tested dozens of plat - forms, and it’s clearly the easiest, most secure, and problem-free virtual event platform. Plus, it’s the only one specialized for the channel. With unlimited attendees and sessions, sponsors ap - preciate the ability to share multiple education pieces and have highly engaging conversations with decision-makers.
Key 2: Choosing The RIGHT Event Theme Or Topic MSP virtual events come in all shapes and sizes. By choosing a topic that is aligned with your core company message and where you can add value to attendees, you’ll ensure your products and services closely align with the event. That’s also how you attract your target market for a greater ROI. Pro Tip: Better engage your audience by offering more value over several speaking sessions. Key 3: Connecting With The RIGHT Audience No matter how fancy the virtual event platform, if you’re not meeting with your target audience, what’s the point? Only choose events proven to be able to deliver MSPs with buying power. Key 4: Choose The RIGHT Event Duration Studies show that event sponsors achieve the greatest ROI by partnering with virtual events that are 1–2 days in length. Anything less than a day attracts far fewer attendees, and they are not as engaged with exhibitors and sponsors. n Good news! Rather than scrambling to find the best 100% virtual event opportunities with the right platform, the right topics, the right audience, and the right length, we found two for you coming up soon: • June 30, 2021 — Cyber Security Livecast A Step-By-Step Plan To Add Half A Million Or More In High-Profit MRR Selling Cyber Security Solutions • Aug. 5, 2021 —MSP Mergers & Acquisitions Strategy Day Everything You Need To Know About Acquiring Other Com - panies, Merging With Other IT Firms For Strategic Growth, And Preparing Your Business To Sell For Maximum Profit
Contact Your Big Red Media Account Manager Or Call Our Office At 844-999-0555 For An Event Prospectus Today.
www.BigRedMedia.com
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IT Channel Rock Star Profile
Bruce McCully’s 4-Step Process That Resulted In Over $1 Million In New Sales During His First 10 Months Of Partnering With Robin Robins And Big Red Media
I n 2019, Bruce McCully,
became one of our core values: ‘We enjoy helping people.’” It’s so important to Bruce that he only hires people who “get joy from helping people.” His employees have been known to do things such as clean every car in the parking lot after a big snowstorm. Bruce got into cyber security in 2007 when he started working with data protection in small health care organiza - tions. That quickly turned into recover - ing hospitals from ransomware. “I start - ed learning how vulnerable people were,” Bruce said. “People couldn’t get their medication or the proper tests because it was locked up with a computer system, and everything was down because of ransomware. In our first hospital, we cleaned over 700 infected computers. People were crying, and I couldn’t help but think, ‘How can we prevent this from ever happening again?’” Today, Bruce is a highly sought-after speaker on cyber security and the author of “Plagued,” a book about cyber security for hospitals. Many of the tools he uses today came from the forensics analysis that his team did in hospitals on how ransomware was moving in those facilities. A Successful Launch When Bruce was considering a move, he was also witnessing the MSP commu - nity get hit hard with ransomware. “I was interested in how I could protect my MSP community in a way that was more than just telling them what to do,” Bruce said. Bruce sold Dynamic Edge and found - ed Galactic Advisors in 2020. Today, he provides third-party auditing for MSPs and their clients. “By engaging with us for a third-party audit, MSPs can use this to build trust and both help their MSP business and their clients be more aware of security and what steps are needed to protect themselves.”
founder of Galactic Advisors, had an epiphany.
Attending one of Robin Robins’ events, Bruce heard a speaker who got him thinking that what he really want - ed to do in life was secure 1 million endpoint users. At the time, he owned Dynamic Edge, an MSP serving health care providers. “We’d gotten to 33,000 endpoint users,” Bruce said, “but I had a personal desire to help secure and protect a million peo - ple. And I just couldn’t figure out how to do that inside my MSP.” The desire to help people was in - grained in Bruce from his upbringing on a farm in rural Michigan. His parents modeled this by taking in foster kids. They exemplified generosity by giving their neighbor and his family a place to live for six months when his house burned down. “My parents always had an open door,” Bruce said, “and I learned the joy of helping people.” At an early age, he also became en - amored with computers. When he was 8 years old, his mom, an elementary school teacher, brought home an Apple IIe computer. One day, his parents were out baling hay when a curious Bruce wanted to know how the computer worked. “My favorite thing to do was to type in things on that computer and get it to do stuff,” Bruce recalled. “My parents left me home alone, and I took the entire com - puter apart. It was in pieces all over the dining room when my mom came home. She was so angry!” Bruce lived to tell the tale after he successfully reassembled the computer and got it running again. Those early experiences influenced Bruce his entire career. “I tried to figure out how I could help people,” Bruce said, “and when I founded Dynamic Edge, that
From Zero To 7 Figures In Under A Year In the 10 months since he opened his doors, Bruce has already protected 137,158 users, a 357% increase over what he protected in the 20 years he was an MSP. Here are four ways he cre - ated fast growth. 1. Create A Competitive Advantage. “I got some really good advice from Robin Robins,” Bruce said. “She told me, ‘If you’re building a company that’s going to help people secure themselves, make sure that whatever products you build create some sort of competitive advan - tage for the people buying it.’” Bruce figured out how to make it so his part - ners have a competitive advantage and make more sales. He helps MSPs make decisions about what should be in their security stacks by giving a vendor-agnos - tic, completely data-driven answer. “We
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Big Red Media | A Robin Robins Company
Bruce Mccully, Chief Security Officer, Galactic Advisors, Presenting On Stage At The 2020 Q3 Producers Club Meeting.
Bruce said. “During the Road Show, we did five cities, and each time got no less than 25 hot first-time appointments. We are seeing a 54% close rate on all of our sales leads coming from Robin’s events.” During the first eight months of working with Robin’s team, Bruce has generated over $1 million in recurring revenue sales that can be directly traced back to his partnership with her. “Our goal is to help the MSP com - munity secure and protect themselves from hackers and advanced, persistent threats,” Bruce said, “and to do that, we need everyone’s help. Whether you’re an MSP with a few clients or a channel vendor with a couple of hundred MSPs, we’re interested in collaborating and helping to improve the security posture of our entire community.” n
pivoting to virtual due to the COVID-19 shutdown, Bruce signed up 24% of the people in his breakout session! “It was definitely a big, important piece to our launch process,” Bruce said. “Robin and her team didn’t miss a beat with Boot - camp. To go from an in-person event to completely virtual that quick — they totally pulled it off.” 4. Repeat What Works. Being 100% self-funded, Bruce hadn’t planned on doing additional events in 2020 after Robin’s Bootcamp, but he changed his mind. “Bootcamp was so successful, I thought it doesn’t make sense for us to not continue this investment,” Bruce explained. Bruce partnered in a variety of events with Robin, including the June 2020 Cyber Livecast, her five-city Road Show tour, and sponsored parties for Producer’s Club. “At least 10% of the room is signing up at every event,”
look at how long it takes for vendors to respond, what they respond with, what they’re looking at, and how their stuff actually works,” Bruce said. 2. Get In Front Of Buyers. Bruce launched his company at Robin Robins Bootcamp on May 4, 2020. Partnering with Robin, he secured a spot to speak. “Robin’s Bootcamp was one of my favor - ite events to attend as an MSP,” Bruce said. “So, I knew I wanted to invest in that from the start.” “It was incredible how interested that Bootcamp audience was in investing in the right tools and in creating a compet - itive advantage,” Bruce said. “They were there to buy tools. It was extremely clear that people were interested in improv - ing their security posture.” 3. Come Up With An Irresistible Offer. Bruce enlisted Robin’s team to help him with his offer. Despite Robin
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Case Study: A Win-Win Campaign For Dell And Our Members Digital Marketing Focus
P erhaps the best-known hierarchical model in marketing is the AIDA model. It tracks a cus - tomer’s journey from Awareness to Interest to Desire and finally to Action . In the channel, it’s not uncommon to spend many months and lots of mar - keting dollars in an effort to converting a prospect from initial Awareness to finally taking Action. That’s why, when we see a digital marketing initiative drive prospects to a simple action in mere seconds, we must applaud the result and then dissect its success. Recently, we teamed up with Dell to serve up some goodwill to the Robin Robins community and help reaffirm its brand among our large MSP peer groups. Here’s What We Did: To attract the most eyeballs (Aware - ness) and to generate the most clicks and conversions (Action), we created both a banner ad and pop-up ad on the Technology Marketing Toolkit Member Dashboard. Our goal was to deliver as many impressions and clicks as possible with an offer that speaks to everyone — free money! — and a no-brainer call to action of signing up with no obligation.
Here Are The Results: Dashboard Pop-Up Ad: 380 clicks from 999 impressions = an impressive 38%! Dashboard Ad: 174 clicks from 13,812 impressions Unique Clicks: 356 Form Fill Conversions: 181 Total = 53%!
Here’s Why It Worked: We started with a very targeted audience. Any client accessing the Technology Marketing Toolkit Dashboard is an MSP who is very serious about grow - ing their business through marketing. Next, since the Dell ad is the only banner ad and the only colorful distraction on the Dashboard, clients are compelled to read the copy and click. Finally, because there was little friction (simply submit your information) and a possible big windfall (12 chances to win $1,000), it was a win-win for Dell and our clients. By imple - menting this digital campaign for 12 full months, it builds a positive vibe around the Dell brand among our clients. And that was our ultimate goal. Want to learn more about our digital marketing solutions? Schedule a strategy call with your Big Red Media Account Manager today! n
Upon clicking the ad, members are directed to a squeeze page where they simply enter their contact information (name, email, phone number, company) for 12 monthly chances to win $1,000! The members get a possible pay day, and Dell gets a qualified lead that could result in enrollment into their Dell Expert Network. The first time our clients access the Dashboard, they see a can’t-miss pop-up version of the Dell banner ad. After the initial pop-up ad, the Dell banner rotates among other ads on the Dashboard.
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Big Red Media | A Robin Robins Company
Each month we bring you some of our favorite ar- ticles from the MSP Success website. From bulldozers to the death — and rebirth — of the salesman, these killer stories are worth the price of admission and are guaranteed to spark interest around the water cooler. 5 Irrefutable Signs It’s Time To Fire Your Salesperson It can be a hard conversation to have, but sometimes your salesperson just isn’t cutting it: from objective failures, like missing their quotas, to more nuanced considerations, such as whether or not they are coachable. Nobody wants to admit defeat, but the best way out is often forward, and this article will remove any doubt about the right path ahead.
piece, Robin Robins cites the warning in Matthew 7:3 about pointing out a splinter in your brother’s eye when you have a bigger one in your own. She’s talking about an IT company she saw using social media to shame another channel member and why that’s not sound marketing, especially since this company was not making much of its own opportu - nities. Remaining aware of her own actions, Robin refrains from naming names so she can impart the right lessons instead.
To read the full article, visit MSPSuccessMagazine.com/bible
MSP Webinar Series Highlights A Brand-New Gamified Cyber Security And Compliance Awareness Platform For MSPs If you haven’t visited the webinar section of the MSP Success website lately, you need to go check out the webinar we just did with Scott Wright of ClickArmor. Scott’s company is bringing gamifi - cation principles to the cyber security world, and he was kind enough to give us a live demonstra - tion of this groundbreaking approach to keeping systems safe. If you like what you see, ClickAr - mor has also launched an MSP Success Partner Program to help bring cutting-edge security to our awesome readers. To read the full article, visit MSPSuccessMagazine.com/gamified n
To read the full article, visit MSPSuccessMagazine.com/fire
How Will Nobles Went From Bulldozer Opera- tor To One Of The Top Cyber Security Experts In The World If “bulldozer operator to cyber security expert” sounds like an interesting career path, you’re not wrong. But that’s exactly the trajectory of Will Nobles, who went from working tobacco fields at 12 and a mine at 18 to graduating with multiple degrees in network engineering. Although Will and his team now respond to cyberthreats of the highest nature, he’s never forgotten his blue-collar background or the work ethic it taught him. To read the full article, visit MSPSuccessMagazine.com/nobles A RETURN To Selling: The Proud Profession Being a salesperson used to mean someone had done more than watch “Glengarry Glen Ross” five times in one weekend, but now it seems anybody can put “sales professional” on their business card. This article wants to help you rise above, from finding killer training to taking the job title past the 9-to-5. Keep the saw sharp, follow up on every - thing, and read this piece to help a fine profession make a much-needed return. To read the full article, visit MSPSuccessMagazine.com/selling A Lesson From The Bible About How NOT To Market Cyber Security Solutions A 2,000-year-old holy text might not be your first place to turn for advice on marketing cyber solutions, but anybody who knows the Good Book knows its words remain as relevant in the infor - mation age as they were in the Bronze Age. In this
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