Stuart Bryan,
I-M Technology
For 10 Years, Our Marketing Basically Consisted Of Hope And Yellow Pages
My father and I started I-M Technology in 2003 after I was laid off from a large IT firm. We started the business doing what I was familiar with – selling products and doing break-fix work. I would handle sales and service, and my father was in operations. Who were we targeting? Basically anyone with a pulse and a checkbook.
A few years later, we started offering managed services because I wanted to offer a more consultative and proactive relationship to our clients. We simply weren’t doing a good job at landing new accounts. Our marketing model was hiring inside sales reps, asking for referrals and, sadly, Yellow Pages advertising. Our revenues slowly crept up, but we remained a company with one to two employees STUCK at under half a million dollars in gross revenue.
Discovering Technology Marketing Toolkit And Learning Valuable Life Lessons
After 10 years of sluggish and inconsistent growth, I bought the Technology Marketing Toolkit. Unfortunately, I made the same mistake that far too many members make: I very carefully put the Toolkit on a shelf and ignored it for half a year. Then, finally ready to get serious about marketing, I attended Robin’s Boot Camp and joined Producers Club.
Fortunately, I was voted into the Accountability Group I really wanted to join. Immediately, we were led through the checklists and Roadmap, and I began to implement the marketing campaigns. Unfortunately, we ran into staffing issues, and I couldn’t participate in the weekly calls. To my surprise, I was voted out of the group.
Undeterred, I continued to press on with my new group and started adding clients. I was getting great results! At the next Producers Club meeting, my original group saw just how engaged I was and invited me back. I learned a valuable lesson about staying engaged with your peer group, especially when you are struggling and need help.
The Key To Winning At Marketing? CONSISTENCY
From our new managed services revenue, I was able to easily pay for my Producers Club membership and give both my dad and me a well-deserved raise. From that point, we never looked back. Not that long ago, we were hoping new referrals would fall out of the sky. Now we were implementing more marketing campaigns and strategies than we could ever imagine.
We’ve written a book and created a Shock-And-Awe box and online Shock-And-Awe presentation. We sent out the Bad Date letter, Godfather campaign, Aspirin campaign and even gum campaigns to dentists. We conducted webinars, lunch-and-learns, seminars and guest speaking gigs. We attended dental conventions, business and industry expos, and local networking events. From postcards to newsletters to e-mail campaigns, we tried just about everything. What works, we recycle. What doesn’t work, we tweak and try again. Those little tweaks really make a difference.
The tweaks have been the targeting, timing and follow-up with the direct mail campaigns. The timing, hyper-niching and riffing off existing campaigns for maximum impact to specific markets. The SEO work on our website. The adoption and personalization of the marketing calendar Robin provides. The education from the speakers at the Producers Club events who have broadened my horizons and elevated my expectations. They have given me the tools to succeed.
Honestly, more than anything, our success in marketing is a result of our consistency. Consistency is an absolute must.
No One Can Do This Alone – My Accountability Group Makes My Success Possible
Beyond getting our brand, message and offer in front of our prospects and clients, my Accountability Group is a major reason for our success. I love these guys, genuinely. They are my brothers in this journey, and I’m glad we’re on this journey together. My Accountability Group has invested in me and I in them. We have struggled together to get better together and not let any member fall behind. That peer pressure, that drive to win, that competitive spirit has led us to rise as a group. In fact, EVERYONE in our group has at least DOUBLED their business since we formed our group!
More Than Transforming My Business, Robin’s Marketing Has Transformed My Life!
What has this meant to me personally? I bought out my dad and partner just a couple years ago, with the ability to pay him MORE than he asked for to better take care of him and my mom. I gained peace of mind by paying off company debt I had carried for almost 10 years. I have TRIPLED my salary over the past four years. Plus, we recently added four new staff members, which allowed me to keep a promise to myself and take my wife on a two-week vacation to Europe! It was the first vacation since our honeymoon. And I only checked in with my office ONCE in those 10 days – such great memories!
One reason I founded I-M Technology was to be able to provide my family with stability and freedom in terms of both time and finances. I’m proud to say we will be debt-free as a family in the next two years, and I plan on paying off our son’s portion of his student loans. Our daughter should be able to attend college next year without student loans. Plus, I will be able to increase our charitable giving year over year and even achieve a long-time goal of helping those at risk in North Africa, where I’ve had the opportunity to serve.
We exceeded $1 million this year, and I expect to be at $5 million in three years! Over the next year, one area of focus is raising our profitability to be at 25% within two years.
Before I got the Toolkit and joined Producers Club, our recurring revenue was $18,332 per month, and our annual revenue was $425,340. We had 210 customers who were difficult to manage, including residential clients. Product sales were 50% of our revenue. In six years, we totaled $1.9 million in revenue.
After purchasing the Toolkit and joining Producers Club, we totaled $3.8 million in just FOUR years! This year alone, we hit $1,102,801 in revenue, and product sales was only 25% of our revenue! Thanks again for what you do to provide an opportunity for people who are willing to do the work to elevate their game and move forward. I appreciate it more than you know!
