The list, which is compiled by MSPmentor and its publisher, Nine Lives Media Inc., provides a yearly snapshot of “the executives, entrepreneurs, experts, coaches and community leaders shaping the global managed services market.” This is Cooch’s second consecutive appearance.

“It’s an honor,” said Cooch, who founded Everon in Boston in 2003. “I have a ton of respect for the other individuals on the list and, frankly, I’m thrilled to be in their company.”

This year’s MSPmentor 250 includes executives from Rackspace, Microsoft, Dell and Google, as well as MSPs from across the globe, including Ireland, Australia and Sweden.

With locations in Boston, Denver and Los Angeles, Everon provides a suite of IT management and support services, including hosting, data backup and Internet marketing. In 2009, capitalizing on his success in the managed services market, Cooch launched a second venture, Kutenda, an all-in-one web application that helps MSPs market themselves online as well as offer online marketing services to their small business customers.

Last spring, Everon continued its westward push, acquiring Sky IT Support of Los Angeles, a professional IT service company that has been in business for over ten years.

“It has been an exciting time for all of us, to say the least,” said Cooch. “And we’re only now hitting out stride.”

About Everon
Everon helps companies across the country use technology to more effectively grow, manage and protect their business. Everon provides a suite of TaaS (Technology as a Service) offerings, IT management services, internet marketing services and professional services backed by a service team that is available 24/7, with nationwide service delivered from three service centers in Boston, Denver and Los Angeles. For more information, contact 1-888-244-1748 or visit Everon online at http://www.everonit.com.

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Ireland, Australia, Sweden, the UK

The MSPmentor 250 highlights influential players and personalities across the global managed services industry. Everon is joined on the list by executives from Amazon.com, Cisco, Dell, Google and Microsoft, among other industry leaders.

Welcome to the MSPmentor 250, our annual look at the executives, entrepreneurs, experts, coaches and community leaders shaping the global managed services market.

About Everon
Everon helps companies across the country use technology to more effectively grow, manage and protect their business. Everon provides a suite of TaaS (Technology as a Service) offerings, IT management services, internet marketing services and professional services backed by a service team that is available 24/7, with nationwide service delivered from three service centers in Boston, Denver and Los Angeles. For more information, contact 1-888-244-1748 or visit Everon online at http://www.everonit.com.

Mike Cooch
Co-founder, Kutenda Broomfield, CO, USA Web: http://www.kutenda.com Fast Facts: Already a successful MSP, Cooch launched Kutenda to help MSPs promote online marketing and search engine optimization to small business customers.

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CRN Magazine, which covers the IT industry, asked leading technology vendors and service providers to select who they thought were their most innovative partners—those who “stand out from the crowd”—in the managed services sector. The group of 40 standouts appeared in the August issue of CRN magazine.

“It’s a thrill to be on the list and in the company of so many businesses we admire.” said Everon CEO Mike Cooch. “Innovation is a value we hold dear at Everon, and to be recognized by our peers this category—it’s a huge honor.”

Cooch founded Everon in 2003 in Boston and has since steadily expanded westward, opening service centers in Denver and, last April, Los Angeles. Everon provides a suite of IT management and support services, including hosting, data backup and Internet marketing.

With this latest designation Everon finds itself with a growing trophy case of awards. This month, for the third straight year, the company was lauded by MSPMentor as one of the top 100 MSPs in the country.

“Ultimately, we work hard to make our clients happy and to make ourselves feel good about the work we do,” said Cooch, adding that he had the great fortune to have such a talented team of employees. “But I can’t lie: it feels great to be recognized by our peers and we thank everyone who played a role our selection.”

About Everon
Everon helps companies across the country use technology to more effectively grow, manage and protect their business. Everon provides a suite of TaaS (Technology as a Service) offerings, IT management services, internet marketing services and professional services backed by a service team that is available 24/7, with nationwide service delivered from three service centers in Boston, Denver and Los Angeles. For more information, contact 1-888-244-1748 or visit Everon online at http://www.everonit.com.

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Targeting has been going on for years – from the manual targeting of PPC campaigns to the recent introduction of Google retargeting, it’s become increasingly easy for small businesses and enterprise-level companies to deliver their messages to consumers who are more likely to buy.

But there’s an element of ‘creepiness’ to targeting, too, that revolves around privacy. In the U.S., we’re particularly aware of privacy concerns – as evidenced  by the recent Facebook privacy policy uproar. In many people, the idea of targeted ads evokes images of the hyper-intrusive world seen in movies like Minority Report, where every wall in a city can be turned into an ad to specifically appeal to your preferences.

Based on these concerns (and the fact that Congress now appears interested in the matter), Better Advertising has developed an ad delivery system that will let users see exactly which of their behaviors led to that ad’s display. What’s more, consumers can opt-out of targeted ads using the system.

Now, the merits of a consumer opting out of a targeted ad system are debatable – for instance, is it better to have random ads, or ads that should in some way interest you? But whether it makes sense for a consumer or not, it appears this change in internet advertising is coming.

For anyone in the internet marketing world, this shift towards transparency and opt-out ads will be a big thing. This system isn’t readily available yet, but if similar systems become the norm, you could easily lose the ability to advertise by serving up irrelevant ads that add no value to a user’s experience.

Your best defense against this is to make your ads timely, appealing, and relevant to your target market. Unfortunately, there’s a thin line to walk – you also need to make sure your ads don’t appear too involved, as no one wants to think they’re being watched by Big Brother. Ultimately, however, if you provide a good user experience, your target market is more likely to let your ads through.

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Mike Cooch, CEO, is very excited about Everon’s new acquisition, and is eager to see what new business opportunities it will open up for Everon in the near future.

“We’re an organization that is committed to growth, and we are always on the look-out for opportunities,” says Cooch. “Just two and a half years ago we successfully opened a second office in Colorado to support our clients in the Western United States. This acquisition allows us to continue to quickly grow our presence in California, and is most likely the first of many to come.”

Cooch adds, “I think this is a win for all parties.  Everon gets additional team members and clients in California, and Sky clients get the expanded resources and service offerings that Everon has to offer.  We look forward to building long, rewarding relationships with the Sky clients – just as we have in our other markets.”

The entire Everon team is excited about the acquisition, and the opportunities that it presents for Everon as a company.  This team has always embraced growth and change, jumping at opportunities to service new and exciting clients, and this acquisition will be no different!

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If you’re using Twitter for business, your level of know-how and commitment may be high, or low — and there are a lot of you who fall somewhere in the middle. And people like you are most likely desperately searching for efficient ways to find the RIGHT people to follow on twitter.  You’re in luck because I recently read a great article on just that:  How To Find The Right People To Follow On Twitter

Not even quite at the finding-the-right-people level yet?

If you don’t really know how to use Twitter to benefit your business but really want to learn more about it, then you’re in luck. Twitter recently released their “Twitter 101 for Business Special” for people just like you. Click here to read up on it and learn more.

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But Google’s not resting on its laurels.

This week, they rolled out a new interface for Google Docs, which promises to allow even more small businesses to do away with Microsoft Office and go straight to the web for team collaboration. As Fast Company points out, it’s faster, allows inline comments, and lets you collaborate in real-time with other team members thanks to its live-editing functionality.

But our favorite part is the new Drawing feature. With it, you can finally ditch your whiteboard and collaborate in real-time on the web.

To access Drawing from Google Docs, just click on “Create New” and choose “Drawing” as the document type. It’s as simple as that. You now have access to a powerful tool that will allow you to create images and flow charts, similar to Visio.

(Image Courtesy of Shaun Ahern, our resident Picasso)

Oh yeah. We’re going to get a lot of use out of this one.

You may not be able to ditch your desktop productivity software just yet, but the new Google Docs Drawing feature takes that idea one step closer to reality.

For more info on all the new Google Docs features, check out the Google Blog here.

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Each year, The Great Game of Business sponsors many events that are geared to help attendees improve business results, and drive those results. Everon Technology Services fully endorses these events, and encourages you to look into attending some in the future. The 18th Annual Gathering of Games Conference is being held in St. Louis, MO from May  5 – 10, and promises to be a powerful event.

For more information on any of these – or any other Great Game of Business Events – please contact Amanda Kuda at The Great Game of Business by phone or email at akuda@ggob.com or 417.829.8275.

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1. Decide what type of entrepreneur you are - Do you get a rush from the mere idea of running your own business, or is there a certain type of work that you’re passionate about? For example, do you love taking care of animals or working with your hands, or do you mainly just want to be your own boss and in control of your own days? If you are passionate about dogs and love exercise, a dog walking/sitting company may be a route to look into. If it’s the freedom you’re in this for, but aren’t overly passionate about one certain type of work, do your research. Assess your skills, and see what types of companies are doing well in your area. Do your research. Don’t forget to consider franchise opportunities!

2. Use your connections - Write a list of all the people you know. Start networking and letting the world know about your upcoming business idea. Discounts and introductory offers can apply to almost every single kind of company you can imagine – so be creative. Start thinking NOW about how you are going to get sales in the door later. Getting these juices flowing in your mind early will save you from a slow start ($$)  later. Also, look into approaching investors for your company – even if this only means having a few simple conversations to test the waters for now.  You don’t have to single handed-ly foot all the money for  your start-up costs alone, in fact few business people do.

3. Win the business plan battle - Once you know exactly what type of business you are going to go after, make sure your plan is clear and that you’re prepared to ask for money. If you don’t seem confident that you’ve done your homework and know what you’re getting yourself into, then the lender will know that. Your financial analysis is very important. How much will you need? Where will you spend it? How much profit can you expect to make in the first year? What are your operating expenses? Be prepared to properly answer all of these questions — along with more! If you’re not very confident in your business plan writing skills, seriously consider consulting a specialist to help you.

4. Develop concrete company mission and other plans- You’re almost ready to roll. Make sure you get some fundamentals down in writing on paper for your new company. Decide what you’re going to do about healthcare for your workers, time off, etc. Write a mission statement for your company, and decide what kind of culture you will foster there. The environment of your organization is a crucial element of your success, so make sure you’re ready to start off strong as soon as you hire your first employee.

5. Open your doors - Once you’re ready (and you never may fully feel “ready” – but once your ducks are all lined up,) then open your doors for business. Don’t cut corners on important things like business tools and supplies, in the end it will only end up hurting your efforts. Hire skilled employees who you feel you can trust and get out there!

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For more information or to sign up for some – or all – of the webinars, please click here.

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