The ISV Society

We're bringing some episodes of What's the Buzz to The ISV Society Podcast. How exciting!

Join me for Episode 18 as I chat with Matt St. John, Senior Sales Executive, from V-Technologies.

We chatted about:

1. Cloud Solutions – Always on the Latest Version - Imagine never worrying about outdated software again! 

2. Reasons to Consider Upgrading Legacy ERPs - Is your legacy ERP system feeling a bit dusty and outdated? 

3. Healthy Mix of Integrated Technology Solutions - One-size-fits-all solutions are so yesterday! 

4. Why You Should Reevaluate Digital Transformation Now

Digital Transformation is such a buzzword, so it just makes sense to chat with you about it.

It's Episode 17 and I had the opportunity to chat with an Award-winning Keynote Speaker, Presenter, Winery Consultant, Author, Leader, as well as President of ITA.

Who is this amazing woman? Geni Whitehouse.

She wrote a book called How to Make a Boring Subject Interesting - 52 Ways Even a Nerd Can Be Heard

So I thought why not share the following:

• Why you wrote the book ( the backstory)
• Why 52 ways
• Pick your top 5 to chat about

It's Season 2, episode 16! I had the opportunity to chat with someone I've known for a while and I had the privilege to work with in the past as one of my partners: Samantha Flynn, Hyperscaler Partner Marketing Manager at Dynatrace.

What did we chat about?

Topics:

• Content development
• The multifaceted approach
• How to maximize the value of content

Tune in as we unpack the strategies for The Multifaceted Approach. Learn about smart distribution, repurposing, and optimization techniques.

It's an episode you don't want to miss.

It's episode 15 and I had the opportunity to speak with Sarah Scudder at SourceDay.

Sarah Scudder is a self-proclaimed supply chain nerd. Sarah is a sustainability nut and lover of all things Bradley Cooper. She’s been trying to get a dinner date with him for over three years. The struggle is real. She’s good at loading the dishwasher but can’t keep potted plants alive. Green is her favorite color. Sarah is the CMO at SourceDay, a Unified Supplier Collaboration platform which automates price, quantity and delivery date changes to direct material purchase orders (POs) and provides complete visibility into your direct material PO lifecycles. Sarah hosts the What the Duck?! direct materials podcast and a monthly Voice of Supply Chain show that features people in supply chain doing extraordinary things. She also hosts monthly Manufacturing Supply Chain Woes and Women in ERP shows and enjoys speaking about marketing and manufacturing supply chain related topics. Here are the questions I asked Sarah in this amazing episode.

What is your partner strategy? How do you co-market with partners?

How do you support user groups in ERP Ecosystems?

What do you do to differentiate in a very crowded ISV ecosystem like in Acumatica?

It's episode 14 and I have Pam Misialek, Community Director, and Ryan Gonzales, Sr Director of Sales and BD, from Dynamics Communities.

What did we talk about:

The community and why it's so important

Summit - breaking records

Users getting the most of the Summit experience

ISVs - still time to sponsor and be part of this major event

It really all comes back to relationships and community.

Hello all! It's episode 13 and I'm excited to chat with Digital Marketing Expert and Marketing Automation Expert, Roland Chi, Marketing Manager at Technology Management Concepts.

The topic is Showcasing our expertise through our people’s personal branding.

Hear how Roland is improving key employees' LinkedIn presence through personal branding and creating videos (interviews) to answer FAQs that accelerate the pre-sales process as well as the hiring process.

It’s not only about the expertise anymore, but also about the culture and people you work with.

Implementations take months and months, so you want to be working with the right team, not just the right product.

What are your LinkedIn strategies as a company?

This episode will help you get started on the right path.

Check it out!

Hello all! It's season 2, episode 12. This week's guest is Erica Hakonson, Principal and Founder of Maven Collective Marketing.

Erica Hakonson is the Principal and Founder of Maven Collective Marketing, the multi-award-winning Microsoft Partner Marketing agency, as well as a recognized and awarded entrepreneur, woman-in-tech and business leader. Hakonson has been awarded Female Entrepreneur of the Year, Silver Award by the international Stevie Women in Business Awards, Editor's Choice by the CanadianSME National Business Awards and Top Small Business Female Executive Bronze Award by DataBird Business Journal. She's also a champion for women in tech, boosting their representation and elevating their presence in the industry. 

What did we chat about?

• Marketing trends of 2023
• What should partners and ISVs focus on
• Website SEO
• Your new self-audit

Maven Collective Marketing has been the Marketing Partner for Microsoft Partners since 2012 working with outstanding clientele, like Microsoft Corporation, PowerObjects, Companial, ClickDimensions, 1ClickFactory, BDC and MS Dynamics World. Well-honored and awarded, Maven Collective Marketing has been named 2023 PRDaily Top B2B Marketing Agency, 2023 Clutch Top Global Experiential Marketing Firm, 2022 AVA Platinum B2B Website Award Winner, to name a few. 

Welcome to season 2, episode 11. I had the opportunity to chat with Donna Krizik, President and Owner of Krizik Marketing Group.

What did we chat about?

• ISV Best Practices
• Tips & Tricks
• How you can stand out in a crowded space

Donna shares some great insights and examples. Like, what are your only's?

Hello all, it's season 2, episode 10. I had the chance to chat with Sam Bush, Marketing Programs Manager, at FloQast.

Studies show that Millennials are now the largest B2B tech buyer group, making 59% of B2B buyers, with over 30% leading the charge and making those purchase decisions. Is your marketing meeting millennials where they are, with the content they enjoy consuming? Some bullet points: Talk about how Millennials search for new B2B Tech How to leverage content and social sharing to get in front of a millennial audience Learn how to turn millennials into advocates over the lifespan of the buyer’s journey

Hey everyone, it's episode 9. I'm excited to chat with Maeve Naughton, President and Owner of MKN Consulting.

Despite what many believe, working with Partners isn’t “all” about the relationship. Sure, it’s a part of it. Still, you need to know about your partners:

• how they market
• what they can and can’t do (from an expertise perspective as well as what’s available to them)
• make joint plans with them (when appropriate)

Hey everyone, it's season 2, episode 8, and I'm excited to chat with email expert, Jay Schweldelson.

Hi everyone, it's episode 7 of 2023. Today I have Peter Matejcek, Chief Efficiency Officer, at WorkflowX, joining me to talk all about video and why it needs to be part of your marketing strategy. We chatted about:

• Top video strategies for ISVs to drive digital engagement, even with limited resources.
• Effective ways to use video to showcase your expertise and stay ahead of changing technology trends.
• Where to start with video marketing when you have no experience, budget, or time.
• How to use video to stand out in a highly competitive market and effectively promote your software product.

So if you're not doing video, why not? Just start right now.

Yes, I will finally be incorporating it into my marketing strategy too.

Hi everyone! It's episode 6 and I got to chat with Adam MacIntosh, Director of Emerging Technology, at WebSan Solutions. What did we chat about:

Our EVOLUTION

We started in the Dynamics GP space 15-20 years ago and had IP we offered for that product.  Some of that migrated to Business Central, but like most other partners, our IP offering grew organically as our Business Central practice grew.

Ultimately, our customers have helped to dictate where we focus out efforts.  They’ve wanted experiences to stay within Business Central.  They want plug-and-play experiences wherein onboarding is simple.  And many SMBs want self-serve options, which is why we post on YouTube and provide user guides for our applications.  All our resources are public.  We even hear from other partners that tell us they love our YouTube content. 

SALES PROCESS

With the sheer volume of apps in the marketplace.  How do you stand out?  We feel we are differentiated because we have actual users for all our apps.  We are one of the largest CSP for Business Central in the world, giving us a massive built-in user base for our apps.  When partners or third-parties find us, they know we have a reliable solution already in place.  We have support processes in place.  We have dev-ops process in place. Etc.

WHAT WE BUILD

Many of our customers tend to be in the distribution space and have a need for efficient and reliable supply chains.  We saw many supply chains disrupted during COVID.  Microsoft recently released “Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management”.  While that solution isn’t focused on the SMB customers that use Business Central, clearly there is a need in the market for supply chain solutions.

OUR APPS

We have 24 apps on the marketplace as of today.  I have two more that will be published this month.  While Business Central does a great job of capturing the basics, we are finding customers need a number of applications in order to optimize operations and minimize manual efforts. 

FUTURE OUTLOOK

AI is obviously on everyone’s minds.  We have an app that incorporates Microsoft AI into a demand forecast.  We are looking at adding AI to our Sales and Operations Planning application as well.  We are strong consumers of AI today and looking to provide more AI solutions in the future.  I am studying AI tools and so are my staff.  The demand from SMBs in the AI space is massive.

Hello everyone! It's episode 5. I'm excited to chat with Cheryl Salazar, Partner and MVP, from The Partner Marketing Group.

Today we chatted about:

-Cheryl's background and role - she's been in the technology space for over 30 years throughout the US and Africa

-What services they provide both partners and ISVs - it's pretty much everything you can think of from a marketing standpoint

-Their infamous Technology & Marketing Benchmarks & Trends Report - What are the Top 10 MOST EFFECTIVE Lead Generation Tactics in 2022, Most ACTIVE Lead Generation Tactics, and Top 10 LEAST EFFECTIVE Lead Generation Tactics in 2022

-The NEW service they're offering for all Microsoft partners 

It's episode 4! I’m joined by industry expert, Liz Hallen from Dynamics User Group. This is the audio version of a webinar we just did where we shared our top tips for getting the most out of those events you sponsor!

Because, events are a huge investment of both time and money whether it’s virtual or in-person.  You want them to be successful and prove the ROI. I’m right there with you. We all want to be the one that says….. yes, it was successful, let’s do it again.  

That's why we put together 18 Event Best Practices for ISVs.  

You'll learn about: 

• Strategies for standing out 
• Tips for engaging attendees 
• Maximize your spending and success 
• And much more, 18 in all.  

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 3 of 2023. Brian Whipple, Marketing Manager from CoNetrix parent company to AccountingWare, was my guest this week. 

They conducted a survey asking GP users about their future plans, migration timeline, and more. The survey resulted in 164 responses which led to several informative observations on what decisions companies are making concerning their current ERP solution. 

So we chatted about:

• Brian's role and background 
• the story behind the report and why you decided to do this survey 
• findings from the report 
• where you can download it 
• a little about AccountingWare to wrap it up

It's episode #2 of 2023! This week I'm chatting with Adam Berezin, Co-Founder and CEO of MSDynamicsWorld.com (MSDW).

So what did we chat about:

• Celebrating 15 years
• How has MSDW evolved over the years
• How they help partners and ISVs
• What's to come in 2023

Plus, we have an exciting NEW program launching as well. 

Hello everyone! Welcome to the first episode of 2023.

I'm excited to chat with Louisa Gooding, Senior Business Development Manager at Acumatica and acu-connect Board Member.

It's episode 38 and the last episode of 2022! Wrapping up the year with Part 2 of my discussion with my guest, Aaron Back also known as The Bearded Analyst.  He's the Chief Content Officer, Principal and Founding Analyst of the Acceleration Economy, the VP of Dynamic Communities and the Podcast Host of the Back @ IT Show.

We talked about:

1. Microsoft Biz Apps

2. Specific product

3. Microsoft and other platforms

The landscape has changed. There are hybrid, cloud, and multi-cloud. We need to be more flexible. It's not just about Microsoft solutions anymore. Microsoft is just one part of the technical landscape.  

We need to evolve and adapt, especially ISVs. You can't be a one-trick pony anymore. You need to diversify, shift your focus, and become more agnostic.

Where can you find Aaron:

Welcome to episode 37 and part 1 with my guest, Aaron Back also known as The Bearded Analyst.  He's the Chief Content Officer and Principal and Founding Analyst of the Acceleration Economy, the VP of Dynamic Communities and the Podcast Host of the Back @ IT Show.

Today we chatted about the 4 pillars:

1. Considering a new Business Application
2. New to 
3. Migrating to another 
4. Optimizing what they have

Where can you find Aaron

Here's episode 36! Today my guest is Carol Livingston, Founder of Dynamics Connections.

It was such a great conversation. We started off with a quick discussion on trends impacting VARs and ISVs and then onto Four things that ISVs and VARs can do to better to work together:

1. Building a relationship/partnership

• VARS vetting partners 
• VAR’s getting agreements/margins/expectations set upfront
• ISV’s working on structuring partner programs

2. Setting Expectations – once engaged

• Will the partner be involved – to what extent
• Help with test vs. production environments
• Who is going to manage the project

3. Who owns the client – for billing, services, communications, etc.

• VARs are starting to not want to be involved after the sale
• VARs would like to be kept in the loop – esp if there are unexpected issues
• VARs whose paper is it put on
• ISVs want partners to take on more of the selling and services – willing to give margins
• ISVs need VAR’s help in implementation - logistics

4. Marketing

• How ISVs get messaging to partners
• Marketing to partners
• Marketing with partners – have a strategy for partner management

We wrapped up with the services both Carol and I provide and how they're different and actually complement each other.

Hello all! It's episode 35 and I have not one but two guests with me this week. We have Kamil Karbowiak, Managing Director and Tristan Threlkeld, Director of Sales and BD at Data Courage.

We chatted about:

1. How does your company help partners and their clients with automation?
2. Does your app replace a person/job or is this solution help the resource/associate be more efficient?
3. So, this will help employees with their day-to-day job duties?
4. What kind of Support do you offer Partners and clients? 
5. What's different about your solutions that separate them from the other similar solutions on the market today?
6. What about pricing? Do you have a partner program? 
7. Are you a competitor to partners in any way?
8. How knowledgeable are you in the Microsoft Dynamics suite of ERPs?

You can reach out to Data Courage to learn more at sales@datacourage.com.

Hello everyone! It's episode 34. I'm excited about this episode and my guest this week. 

With everyone working from home and spending their days online, capturing the attention of your clients – or more importantly, your future clients – is more challenging than ever. With marketing emails staying unopened and search engine ads being ignored, how can a growing ISV make a name for itself in a crowded, noisy space? The answer is deceptively simple, yet tough to achieve: you must deliver value and insight from the very first interaction. In this episode, we catch up with Danica Weappa from Greenshades Software and learn how this 20+ year-old brand stays connected with its 3500+ customers and keeps attracting new customers to their cloud-based Payroll and HR platform.

1. How do you distinguish yourself from competitors? What types of marketing tactics do you deploy?

2. How do your marketing team and your sales team stay in synch? What best practices have you worked out to keep everyone on the same page?

3. What metrics do you monitor and how do you use that data to continually improve your marketing efforts?

4. What advice would you give to ISV marketers to keep their brand top-of-mind for clients?

Well, I'm back from Community Summit. It was such a great time and it was so great to see everyone.

This conference certainly grew from last year with a few thousand attendees.

Today I am going to cover my top takeaways from the conference and my overall feedback on how this one went regarding the:

-Welcome reception

-Expo 

-Partner Solution Showcase

-Summitland program

It was so great to see everyone! I can't wait to see you all in NC next year. So glad it is somewhere new, warm, and still on the east coast.

Hello all! Welcome to episode 32. My guest today is Todd Bowlsby, Senior Manager at Armanino. He's passionately helping people and organizations solve their business-related challenges with technology.

He and I chatted about:

• Being in the channel over the years  
• What do you focus on now 
• Working with ISVs 
• Best practices/mgmt skills

Here's episode #31. Today I chatted with Jon Rivers, President of Marketing Monarchs and Co-Founder of Marketeery. 

We all use social media to grow our business and it's always evolving and changing. Get some amazing social media strategies and tips such as:

• Researching what platform to use and how to use it
• 3 keys goals when building your social media strategy
• How often you should post
• and more

Welcome everyone to another episode of The ISV Society podcast. My guest this week is Rob Fegan, Founder of Venvito.  Venvito's mission is to help partners demystify working with Microsoft and set themselves up like Microsoft's most successful partners. Creating messaging that engages the Microsoft field team supported by a co-sell win formula that delivers a winning partnership.

Hi all! It's episode#29! Today's guest is Doug Bertram, Regional Account Manager, at Metafile. 

Today's topic is all about AI. I asked him:

1. How has AI evolved? 

2. What role does AI play in AP Process Automation? 

3. What benefits are being achieved with advancing technology? 

4. What does the future of AI look like?

It's episode #28 and I had the opportunity to chat with Tori Barlow, VP of Marketing, at Allbound, The #1 Partner Preferred Portal.

Here are the questions I asked:

• What are the partner program best practices?
• What do companies struggle with when developing or tweaking their partner program?
• Have you seen any trends on what works and what doesn't?
• How does Allbound help?

Welcome everyone to Episode 25! Today I'm chatting with Sam Gupta, Host@WBSRocks | Independent ERP and Enterprise Technology Selection Expert | Supply Chain Transformation and IT Procurement Adviser | Digital and E-commerce Strategist | Fractional CIO.

We talked about things such as:

• ElevateIQ - mission and what he does
• How he helps customers 
• How ISVs help him

Welcome everyone to Episode 24 of The ISV Society Podcast. I had a chance to chat with Rob Jolliffe, President of Sabre Limited. Rob is a Supply Chain and Information Technology Expert | Helping Industrial Businesses With Their IT Systems.

Sabre Limited is an ERP reseller in Cambridge Ontario, wholly dedicated to the Microsoft product line.

We chatted about:

• Drinking the Kool-Aid 
• Fixed Fee versus hourly
• Being a VAR and now and ISV 

It's Episode 23 and it's the 1 Year Anniversary of The ISV Society! So it seems fitting to start at the beginning.

I’ve worked for some amazing ISVs over the years and if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be where I am today. They all deserve a huge shout-out.

Right out of college

First up, Blue Moon Industries. What started out as an internship in 1999 turned into a full-time career. Not only was I the first intern, but I also paved the way for more interns. I started out with marketing initiatives for the VAR side which soon turned into marketing initiatives for the ISV side as well.

Getting my head in the clouds

Next up, Myappsanwhere. This is where I learned all about the cloud, data center security, and hosting. Now I am selling Dynamics in the cloud, not only the ERPs but CRM and Exchange as well.

I was responsible for building out the partner program, educating partners on the cloud offerings, and helping partners sell Dynamics in the cloud.

Time to drink the orange Kool-aid

Avalara is up next. I have to say it was one of my dreams to work for such an amazing company. It started out by going to Seattle and Bainbridge Island in January for 2 weeks. First for sales kick-off and second for a week of learning about all things sales tax.

I know way more about sales tax than I ever thought I would. It is crazy to think one side of the street can pay a different tax than the other side of the street just because they are in different jurisdictions. And some candy bars are charged sales tax and others are not just based on the ingredients. I could go on and on but I will spare you that.

Let’s Rock

Last but not least, Rockton Software. I was back in the Dynamics space which I missed so much and also the Acumatica space. It was great to work with so many familiar faces again.

My role here was a little different in that much of my focus was on lead generation, filling the sales funnel, and content creation. I loved that I could focus on creativity and trying new things especially when everything went virtual.

I was able to step up my game with content creation, bring the GP Optimizer to life, and build new relationships.

The ISV Society is Born

I am so grateful for all of these opportunities with all of these companies. They all shaped my career in different ways and gave me a tremendous amount of experience.

It paved the way to launch my membership and community just for ISVs. The ISV Society is a labor of love. I am able to use all of my marketing, ERP, and channel experience and scale it to help the masses.

I learned that there really needs to be something just for ISVs that is ERP agnostic. We all struggle with lead generation, reaching the masses, having time to launch new marketing initiatives, and doing joint initiatives. So, why not have a membership that does just that.

Hello everyone! Welcome to Episode 22. I am so excited to chat with extraordinary ladies. They're the superheros of DUG, Liz Hallen the VP of DUG and Molly Fuchsel, the President of DUG.

We chatted about:

1. Why the superhero theme, who picked it?
2. Virtual or in-person events - which do you like better and what do the users like better?
3. What are the plans/goals for the rest of the year?
4. How do you work with ISVs?

Welcome to another episode of The ISV Society podcast. Today we are talking about the 4 Opportunities to Reach More Partners

Because what struggles do ISVs have? Reaching out to more partners, growing their partner channel, and having a successful partner program.

I’m here to tell you there’s no magic pill or quick fix to make this struggle go away.

Sure you’ll have the few VARs that consistently work with you and sell your solutions. But ISVs want to grow.

What are 4 ways you can do that:

1. Integrating with other ERPs

2. Targeting a pain point or niche

3. Creating a channel program that sticks

4. Collaborating with more ISVs

Listen to this episode as I dive into each of these a little more.

Share your topic ideas or be a guest, reach out to me at amieek@theisvsociety.com.

Hi everyone! Welcome to episode #17! 

I'm so excited to chat with my guest today but first a little backstory. I was listening to the Social Media Marketing Podcast while traveling and it was all about LinkedIn. I just loved the content that this guest shared, so what did I do? Reached out to her on LinkedIn and asked if she would be a guest on my Podcast as well. So here she is, Judi Fox! 

Judi Fox is listed as a Top 10 LinkedIn Coach for 2021 in Yahoo Finance.  She is featured in Inc Magazine, CEO Magazine, Vidsummit, Social Media Marketing World, Video Marketing World, People of Video, and on several Top 100 Marketing Podcasts.

With over 18 years experience in business development and sales, Judi Fox developed the LinkedIn Business Accelerator Method. Clients are implementing this LinkedIn method to achieve more business and over 1 million content views in 90 days.

We talked about:

-LinkedIn Newsletters

-LinkedIn embed options - did you know you can embed your Podcast episodes so they can watch them on LinkedIn?

-The NEW LinkedIn Audio - coming soon!

-LinkedIn tips-n-tricks

Grab your pen and paper. There's a ton of information to share and some great actionable items.

One thing is true, it is not always about the content you post but about the conversations you have.

Hello all! Welcome to another episode of The ISV Society podcast. And again, I have not 1 but 3 guests this week. This is Part 2 of The Perspective of a Partner with LBMC. 

My guests are:

Margaret Bolding, Dynamics GP Practice Manager

Elizabeth Spector, Billing Specialist

Sarah Novak, Marketing Manager

It was so great to hear their perspective on things like:

• how they engage with ISVs
• how they help their clients find the right solution
• ISV best practices

I'm so excited for you to hear this episode. And as always if you would like to learn more about The ISV Society, feel free to email me at amieek@theisvsociety.com

I would love for you to comment, leave a review, subscribe, and share any topics you would like to hear as well.

Thanks for listening!

Hello all! Welcome to another episode of The ISV Society. I have not 1 but 3 guests this week. I am so excited to have the team from LBMC here with me to chat about working with ISVs.

My guests are:

Margaret Bolding, Dynamics GP Practice Manager

Lise’ Cummings, Microsoft Dynamics Strategic Account Manager

Ashley Kennally, Microsoft Dynamics Strategic Account Manager

It was so great to hear their perspective on things like:

• How they engage with ISVs
• How do they help their clients find the right solution
• ISV best practices