By Megan Killion, Chief Consultant at MKC Agency

For MSPs, attracting the right clients is not just an aspect of business growth – it’s the lifeblood. But what if I told you that you could generate a stream of high-quality leads without breaking the bank? I’ve spent more than 15 years in the B2B technology sales space, and I’ve racked up over $500m in new revenue along the way. In that time, I’ve uncovered several proven, cost-effective strategies that MSPs can use to attract ideal customers. Here are 30 free and effective lead generation sources for MSPs.

Let’s dive in!

Referrals: Your existing customers are one of the best sources of new leads. Encourage them to refer you to others by providing top-notch services and incentivizing referrals.

Reviews: Request reviews from satisfied customers. These reviews, when showcased on your website, Google, or social media platforms, can help attract new clients.

FAQs: Collect recurring questions from your customers and create a comprehensive FAQ section on your website. This can be a valuable resource for potential clients.

Helpful Guides: Craft guides on relevant topics that provide value to your prospects, like how to avoid ransomware, upcoming compliance deadlines, etc.

Checklists: Develop useful checklists for your clients and offer them as downloadable resources on your website.

Webinars: Host free educational webinars on compelling topics. They’re not just a valuable resource for your audience, but an excellent opportunity to collect contact information.

Webinar Recordings: Provide access to recorded webinars in exchange for email addresses, offering leads a chance to learn on their own time.

Seminars: Collaborate with a non-competing company to host a seminar, attracting leads from your partner’s network.

List Collaboration: Publish a resourceful list, like “Top Productivity Tools for Small Businesses”, on your website.

Strategy Session Offering: Offer a free audit, security assessment, or compliance review to prospects through a compelling landing page.

Fix an Existing Website Page: Ensure your website is optimized for user experience, making it easy for potential clients to navigate and connect with you.

Attend Networking Group: Regularly attend local networking group meetings to establish relationships and potential leads.

Build a Networking Group: If there are no suitable networking groups in your area, start your own!

Start a Facebook Group: Establish a Facebook group that caters to your target audience, providing valuable information and building your reputation as an industry expert.

Centers of Influence: Connect with influential people in your community who target similar clients. Building relationships with these influencers can help widen your reach.

Leverage Content: Once you create a piece of content, find multiple ways to leverage it, like turning a webinar into a downloadable video, an infographic, or an eBook.

Blogs: Consistently publish informative blogs on your website with strong calls to action that direct readers towards your services.

Surveys: Conduct surveys to gather information about your local audience’s IT and cybersecurity needs, and offer to share the results in exchange for contact details.

Polls on LinkedIn: Use LinkedIn’s poll feature to engage your audience, gather valuable insights, and raise your profile.

Cold Email: Identify potential clients and reach out with personalized emails offering your services.

Social Media: Stay active on social media platforms, engaging with your audience, and sharing useful content.

Local SEO: Optimize your website for local searches. Include your city or area name in your website content and meta tags to improve your local visibility.

Quora: Answer relevant questions on Quora to position yourself as an expert in your field. This can drive organic traffic to your website.

LinkedIn: Use LinkedIn to connect with potential clients, participate in groups, publish articles, and share updates. This platform is especially valuable for B2B companies.

Local Meetups: Attend local meetups relevant to your industry. This is a great way to meet potential clients and expand your professional network.

Speak on Someone Else’s Podcast: Reach out to podcast hosts in your industry and offer to share your knowledge with their audience.

Turn Clips of Your Client Calls into Video Content or Podcasts: With permission, use extracts from your client calls to create informative content, like videos or podcasts, that address common customer concerns.

Content Upgrades: Create additional content related to your popular blog posts or guides and offer it as a bonus in exchange for an email address.

Guest Posting: Write articles for other popular blogs or websites in your industry. This can help increase your brand’s exposure and attract more leads.

Medium: Publish your articles on Medium to reach a broader audience and drive traffic to your website.

Listing on Clutch or UpCity: List your services on B2B review platforms like Clutch or UpCity. These sites are widely used by businesses looking for reliable service providers.

Remember, the key to successful lead generation is offering value. When you provide valuable content, resources, and services, you naturally attract your ideal clients. This isn’t just about getting leads—it’s about building relationships and establishing trust with potential clients. It’s a process, and it takes time, but the results are well worth the effort.

Feel free to mix and match these strategies as you see fit, and don’t be afraid to get creative with your approach. I wish you the best of luck on your lead generation journey!

While these methods may be labelled as “free” lead generation strategies, they do, in fact, require significant investment in terms of time, effort, creativity, and skill.

That being said, we’ve honed our process to minimize costs and maximize returns for our clients:

• ChatGPT Templates: We leverage AI-powered tools like ChatGPT to brainstorm content ideas and begin drafting copy. This helps to streamline the content creation process and get those creative juices flowing.
• Canva Templates: Canva is a fantastic tool for producing professional-quality graphics with ease. We provide our clients with custom Canva templates, so they can quickly generate appealing visuals for their content.
• Virtual Assistants: To alleviate the pressure on our clients’ time and resources, we maintain a team of dedicated virtual assistants (VAs). These VAs can take on tasks that our clients may not have the time or inclination to handle, saving them from having to search for and hire additional help.
• Automated Outreach: We utilize automation tools to simplify and expedite the process of finding guest post and podcast speaking opportunities. This allows us to rapidly identify relevant platforms for our clients, saving them valuable time.

While these strategies require some initial investment, the returns in terms of lead generation and business growth can be immense. Our goal is to make this process as seamless and cost-effective as possible for our clients, setting them up for sustained success in their marketing efforts.

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Want help from the experts? Schedule a 1:1 to build a custom strategy for your team. Outsource as much or as little of it to us as you want!