I belong to a few forums that cover computer repair, owning a computer business etc.. It's a good thing to do a search and find any forum or even yahoo group that you can join in order to provide yourself with more insight into the business. Obviously you don't want to join every single one otherwise you won't get any work done all day... ;) It's also important to know that once you join say a forum that you should review the "rules" of the site, each site is different and it is a quick read. Once you are done with that then you are ready to start posting questions and answering those that you can...... This is where the hesitation comes into play... typically new users seldom want to put a post for fear that it has already been asked (most [+]

With the economy in a bit of hard times I deal with other business owners on a daily basis who wonder the same as everyone else when it will get better. Obviously, that is not something that you want to have to think about on a daily basis but some businesses owners have to do just that. It makes me think how does one stay ahead? How does one make sure the at in times like this that their business will not be affected like others? What I do is continually look at new things, products, services, etc and see how they can be incorporated into our business model. The way I look at things, the more services you can offer to your customers the better chance you have of always being in demand. Obviously this is not something that you want [+]

Read an article in the newspaper today that I found interesting. It was from a well known computer computer business in another state. The article was about "Upgrading Your Computer" vice buying a new one. It goes into detail about what you can purchase i.e. memory, hard drive, etc... Then it says about replacing memory. Pretty easy thing for those that have done it especially in a desktop. But, then it says about doing it in a laptop also....This I found interesting. Working on computers daily for a living I typically will upgrade memory on laptops myself.  Some laptops you flip upside down and take a few screws out and you can swap out the memory in them. But, there are other laptops that one piece of memory will go in the bottom and then another will go under the keyboard. No typically in these situations that [+]

The discussion of certifications always comes up. Usually the topic is "does a small business owner really need certifications?" Here are my thoughts..... YES...That is making it simple.... Now here are the reasons behind it. If you already are confident in yourself and your skills in the IT industry then this is another way to put yourself ahead of the competition. I look at it like you have a tool-box and you are just adding to it over the years.  Does the normal residential customer care if you have a certification? Probably not....But, what about the small business that you are trying to get work with? What is going to set you apart from the competition if they ask for proposals?  Anything that can make you different then your competitor is going to give you the edge that is needed in the marketplace.  For [+]