Knocked Down Again And Again –
But Never Knocked Out!
Standing onstage as a Better Your Best finalist at this year’s Fight Club–themed Boot Camp was most appropriate for me because I have been knocked down more times than I can count. When I came to the US from the Dominican Republic with my mother, we lacked a lot and faced many challenges.
Then, after losing my job through workforce discrimination, I started my own break-fix model IT services business in 2003. Disciplined from the Army, I always woke at 4:30 a.m. and worked 12-hour days seven days a week. After I’d reached $550,000 in revenue and thought I had all the money in the world, the 2008 recession wiped out 90% of my clients! With only a fraction of my revenue, I lost my business buildings and filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
As my business, income and confidence crumbled to the ground, so did my health. The relentless hours and stress caused my blood pressure to reach such an alarming rate, my doctor said, “Pedro, if you don’t slow down, you’re going to DIE!”
3 Reasons I Turned EVERYTHING Around
There’s no greater motivator than learning you’re going to be a father. Learning you’re going to be a father TIMES THREE (Yes, TRIPLETS!) lights a burning desire within you to make more, do more and BE MORE. Along with the birth of those three angels in February 2010, the new and improved Pedro 2.0 was born, and I opened the doors to IT Management Solutions!
I searched online for someone who could help me to create an MSP recurring revenue model and grow a profitable business. I found Robin Robins. After getting the Toolkit and finally EXECUTING, I hit $201,000 with $101,000 in recurring revenue in 2009. Thank you, Jesus! I could finally start giving my babies the life they deserve! Just three years later, I was doing $877,000 in revenue with $467,000 recurring each year. By 2016, this immigrant who came from nothing had built a $1.3 MILLION business!
Unfortunately, we were STUCK at that $1.3 million mark. Marketing was inconsistent because it was just me. I would get a client or two and just stop marketing to better service the client. Start again, get a client and stop again. There was no consistency, no finesse, no elegance to my marketing.
My Predictable Growth Formula To The Rescue:
(P x E) + R3 / FOCUS = 756% ROI
It wasn’t until I created my own predictable growth formula that I started seeing continuous and record growth. The equation: (P x E) + R3 / FOCUS, which stands for (Planning x Execution) + Review, Rinse and Repeat divided by Focus. Once you create a successful plan and execute it, you must review your results, learn what worked and what didn’t and then REPEAT your success. BUT, and this is key, you must give each campaign 300% of your focus! Because if you do it half-assed, your monthly results will be half-assed, your quarter half-assed and your year half-assed.
First, I planned by learning about SMART goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based. Next, I improved my Execution. Before, I used a shotgun approach to marketing where I spent over $150,000 two years in a row and had little to show for it. I even paid a telemarketing company $40K a year to make 300 calls a week. Again, no results.
So, we did a complete revamp of our marketing system, did quarterly reviews to improve our sales process and scaled back to making about 50 phone calls a week. With this more surgical approach with better messaging, we grew by 20% in 2017, 28% in 2018 and another 19.7% in 2019! For every dollar I invested in Technology Marketing Toolkit’s marketing, I earned $17.56, for 756% ROI!
RELATED: If you want to get started the EXACT same was Pedro and thousands of others have schedule a FREE, zero-obligation marketing consultation at: www.itmarketingconsultsurvey.com
Do You TRULY Know Your Numbers?
One of the first lessons Robin teaches us is the four pillars of marketing: Market, Message, Media and Math. Too many members ignore or even “fake” the math. Not me! I can absolutely PREDICT my success because I am FANATICAL about my numbers. Seriously. It all started with Robin’s Quarterly Lead Generation Marketing Plan and the 5-Year Revenue Forecast. For us, those tools help reveal how many leads we need to achieve our goals, profits, MRR, etc., from now until 2024! I live by those numbers so much that I have them MEMORIZED. Most MSPs make decisions based on emotions. Instead, follow the numbers and predict your success!
Marketing Campaigns That Worked
In 2018, 2019, 2020…
Remember my equation for success? (P x E) + R3 / FOCUS. Through Robin I learned you must have multiple oil wells running to consistently bring in new leads and also to stick with what works. That’s why my marketing plan for 2020 looks very similar to my marketing plan for 2019 and 2018. Because it WORKED and will continue to work!
Turning $2,500 Into $2,600 MRR With Google AdWords
I’m big on digital marketing campaigns, with Google AdWords being my favorite because I know the math forward and backward. I just spent $2,500 testing 20,000 keywords in Google AdWords. In one week it generated three leads, and I closed a $2,600 per month deal ($86K over three years!). In June, I spent another $2,500 and got another deal for $2,600 a month with three additional proposals. I’m closing 40% of these deals now and will be at a 60% closing rate with one more deal. Next step? Analyze which keywords are converting best and throw another $5K into that winning campaign.
MORE Online Reviews Than Any MSP In New England!
My second favorite marketing campaign is my Raving Fans campaign. I like to fish, and I view all of New England as my pond. While Google AdWords works as my rod and bait, in order to catch the fish and close the deal, I need to WIN at the online review game. So I have a solid campaign to generate Google Reviews.
When a client closes a ticket, my associate calls to make sure we exceeded expectations. We instantly send a text link to be entered into a $50 Amazon gift card drawing in exchange for a 5-star review. At month’s end, we announce two winners on social media. Even better, we call the winners back and offer them an additional $25 gift card for a VIDEO review. Our Raving Fans campaign has resulted in 129 (and counting) 5-star Google reviews! Plus, I have 300+ testimonials on my website!
Generating More MRR With My Pandemic Pivot
I’m constantly running four to eight marketing campaigns. So when the virus hit MSPs hard in the spring and we lost $10K in MRR, I was ready to pivot. How? Rather than sending a printed sales letter or newsletter, I turned Robin’s content into a three or four e-mail sequence and followed up with a LinkedIn message and phone call. As a result, I made back that $10K in lost monthly revenue and then some!
Get In Front Of THOUSANDS For Mere Pennies
I love Facebook Ads. So many MSPs waste their marketing budget and months of their time trying to make Facebook Ads convert. I spend just $300 or $400 a month running a few brand-awareness campaigns by using Robin’s reports as my call to action. That gets my name in front of tens of thousands for mere pennies!
Social Media Presence That’s Done-For-Me
A few weeks back, my Accountability Group was arguing about social media posts. I said, “If you’re messing with social media posts, you’re in the weeds!” I realized a while ago that my time is too valuable to create my own posts, so I hired Technology Marketing Toolkit’s Done-For-You Social Media Posting Service to create great posts. Now I’m getting solid top-of-mind awareness.
By leveraging all of my digital platforms, it gives me the best chance of catching a fish. So, when you’re cooking dinner, I’m right there on your phone. When you’re in the bathroom, I’m there as well. It’s exactly what Robin does! Whatever I’m doing, there she is…popping up everywhere! But just like Robin, I’m not selling…I’m offering value and giving a tip so they’ll remember me!
NOTE: For more information about done-for-you posting, ads or seo you can schedule a quick consult by clicking here.
Our Nurturing Campaign Process That Yields Results
For three years now, we’ve depended on Robin’s direct mail campaigns, combined with what I call our “Nurturing Campaign Process,” to bring in new leads and new clients. We focus on one campaign per quarter:
Q1 – Google PPC, Facebook Leads, Social Media Awareness and Branding, eNewsletter, Blog, SEO, Technology Business Reviews, E-mail Nurturing + Aspirin Campaign
Q2 – Google PPC, Facebook Leads, Social Media Awareness and Branding, eNewsletter, Blog, SEO, Technology Business Reviews, E-mail Nurturing + Godfather Campaign (we add a lottery ticket or a real dollar bill)
Q3 – Google PPC, Facebook Leads, Social Media Awareness and Branding, eNewsletter, Blog, SEO, Technology Business Reviews, E-mail Nurturing + Poker Chip Campaign (we add a lottery ticket)
Q4 – Google PPC, Facebook Leads, Social Media Awareness and Branding, eNewsletter, Blog, SEO, Technology Business Reviews, E-mail Nurturing + Band-Aid Campaign
We take a surgical approach by delivering multiple touches to a small, targeted audience. After mailing each campaign, we make 50 follow-up calls. Next, we follow up with e-mail nurturing campaigns as well as a weekly e-mail. Finally, the prospect receives our monthly eNewsletter as well as our cyber security videos we created via social media.
From Ashes To Success,
We Added $319,163 In Revenue Last Year!
My story is a comeback story from defeat to victory! Most life events will either break you or make you into the person you are to become. I decided to use my failures as LESSONS to catapult me into a place of success. Remember, I’m a numbers guy, so here’s a glimpse of my numbers:
• Since 2009, I have invested $796,000 in marketing, which has generated well over $14,000,000 in revenue!
• My revenues were up $319,163 and MRR was up $37,029
• Profit for 2019 was 355%!
My goal is to end 2020 with $2.4M in recurring revenue. When the virus hit and I had to pivot our marketing, I wasn’t sure that aggressive goal was still possible. But I followed the math and stuck to my marketing, and we’ve ALREADY reached that goal at mid-year! While I am so honored to stand onstage at Boot Camp as a Better Your Best finalist this year, I’ll be honest…I want that damn car, and I’m going to do everything in my power to EARN it next year!
