ON-STAGE EXCLUSIVE MSP Success Founder Robin Robins sat down with the iconic Dr. Phil McGraw for an unfiltered Q & A— part leadership, part life advice, all laced with his signature dry humor. Business, boundaries, and a few good laughs included.
LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER
How to Stay Relevant to Your Audience
M ost businesses have some aspect of what they do where the difficulty is hidden from the consumer and often unappreciated for just how challenging it is. Take the airline business as a perfect example. The logistics of getting hundreds of thousands of passengers safely from one place to another, flying a giant metal tube through the sky, in all kinds of weather, is pretty friggin’ amazing— yet people complain they’ ll never fly with a particular airline again due to the snack list being limited. Amazing.
For MSPs, the ability to integrate multiple tools to deliver a profitable, secure, and consistent service while the technology and threats are constantly changing is FAR more difficult than most people realize.
For speakers, authors, and TV personalities, the hidden difficulty is in 1) breaking through all the noise out there to secure a following in the first place; and then 2) staying relevant and keeping the interest of your fans and followers.
You don’ t need me to remind you how SHORT people’ s attention spans are. Every day, a new“ guru” pops up on YouTube with a new book or podcast to follow. We’ re awash in“ experts.” For example, it’ s estimated there are 11,000 new business books published every year, yet only 10 to maybe 20 will make The New York Times bestseller list— and most of those fall off the radar in about a year.
Then you have perennial bestsellers, like Think And Grow Rich, 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, and Good To Great. What do those books and authors have that the others don’ t? It isn’ t just luck or timing. There IS an art and science to becoming and staying relevant and one that every business leader needs to figure out, even if you’ re not publishing, speaking, or writing. Why? Because when you know how to gain and hold the attention of an audience— when you’ re an“ influencer”— the payoff is considerable.
This is the primary question I had for Dr. Phil when I hosted him at our annual IT Sales And Marketing Boot Camp this past April. His show has held the No. 1 spot in its genre for the last 10 years, has run for 21 seasons, and received 31 Emmy nominations— and he’ s still going strong. That is no small feat: It requires a deep understanding of your audience, markets, competition, and trends.
If you’ re keeping score on me, I’ ve been able to hold the No. 1 spot for marketing for MSPs for over two decades, and we’ re showing no signs of slowing. That is not by accident, but by strategy. When you’ re even slightly famous, your clients find you. When you’ re completely unknown, you need to go find your clients and convince them to listen to you. That’ s why a bit of study on marketing, influence, and becoming“ famous” and staying interesting to a chosen audience is so important. It’ s fed me well.
Sincerely,
Robin Robins Founder, MSP Success
Robin Robins is the Founder of TMT and MSP Success.