This is the type of e-mail’s I get from others in the industry

Dan,

I need your help.

None of this crap works. I just finished reading posts on Technibble and Podnutz for the past few years and haven’t made a dime. I bought e-books, video courses, audio courses, key word tools, and complete businesses in a box and NONE of them work.

I am a member of some of the community groups in my town. I thought about going to a Chamber of Commerce meeting, but I bet they already have people there who are providing the exact same services I offering.

So, I thought about building websites, but everyone I know already has one. I thought about offering SEO services, but I can’t even remember what SEO stands for, so that’s probably not the service for me. Plus, I never update my own website, so I guess it really does not matter.

I was thinking off-site backups was a solution I could provide, but I looked at a whole bunch of them and too many to choose from so probably not worth doing it. Plus, nobody told me exactly how much I can make. I am not going to put any effort into it unless I am told specifics on how much money I will make.

Mobile marketing sounds really cool, but since I don’t have a cell phone I don’t know how I would show someone how to do it, or take advantage of it. Plus, Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Coca-Cola and all those companies that use it probably don’t know what they are doing.

A newsletter seemed like a good idea, but then I have to have the time to create it every month or every few months. I am sure after the first time it is a real hassle and not really worth doing. Plus, if I send them to my customers they don’t need to read them, if they ever have another computer problem I’m sure they will remember me from last year or the year before and just call me again.

I was going to get a list of businesses in the area and make myself go to a few of them each and every week. But, then I remember I am not good with talking to people so I’ll just either mail them something or I am sure if they are having problems they will call me. Plus, if I go there then I have to have some material to give them or some business cards and that’s just a waste of money.

Even thought about getting some certifications but I am sure that the one proposal I did for a possible business contract really did not care if I had any certs or not. I think they were looking at experience. I guess I could of asked them, but did not feel like bothering them even tho I did put a few hours into that proposal. And if this business thing does not work out and I have to get a job somewhere I’m sure they will pay for my certs.

I am thinking maybe I will start keeping a planner or scheduler and each week I’ll try to plan my upcoming week and putting things in there to do such as area canvassing, working on marketing materials, meeting people, going to luncheon gatherings of small businesses, working on my website, and a variety of other things. But, now just looking over what I typed if I do all those things I’ll never get anything accomplished. I sort of like just getting up each day and seeing what happens and playing it by ear…

Oh never mind, forget it. Think I’ll go back to the tech section and see if there are any other ideas out there I might try.

Thanks!

Yoda

As most of you know I run the Association of Computer Repair Business Owners. Well for some reason Yext has decided to continue their sales strategy by calling members and saying they are somehow associated with the Association. This could be no further from the truth.

They have said previously “they were working with the ACRBO to find local PC repair shops”, they also have said “ACRBO provided me with your contact information”.  Lastly the claim was “since the majority of our techs are ACRBO members”. Well none of those statements are true.

I could be wrong but this is not the correct way to gardner a realtionship that you plan on lasting.  Starting off with a lie to obtain business is  pretty much wrong on all levels.

So once again I call Yext www.yext.com and talk to them about this and the practices they are deploying. Of course it takes forever to get the “right person”. Then I am told it won’t happen anymore (been told that before). Then I am told it does not matter becuase they are getting out of the computer repair business anyway. Now my response to that was “If you are getting out of the computer repair business then it makes no sense to call people”….Long pause….Then it came “Well that is not until September”. So again making no sense whatsoever is Yext. I guess call people until September get them signed up and then drop that service? Again, crazy way to do business.

My suggestion to Yext is if you want to scour list that is fine but don’t make up things when you call business owners in an attempt to deceive them….The truth does come out.

Dan Martin, Technology Division, YEXT please don’t reference ACRBO in your conversations anymore.

Dan
ACRBO.com

Started receiving these new e-mail scams just this week. I must admit I almost fell for it. Was using my new iPhone (yes it drops calls) and saw this email that had a “subject” line of:  “David Beckham died”

I thought to myself  “wow, I wonder what happen”, now this is the normal thought most people would have and that is exactly what the email is hoping for. But, once you open the email there is an attachment typically titled “news.zip”… And it had content in the email that said:

“Brad Pitt died along with 34 other people when the Air Force CT-43 “Bobcat” passenger plane carrying the group on a trip crashed into a mountainside while approaching the Dubrovnik airport in Croatia during heavy rain and poor visibility.
 Please see attachment”

Once I saw what it said and the attachment then I knew it was not real. but, I can only imagine how many people clicked on the “zip” file and opened it on their computer. Not a good thing…….

If you get one of these email then delete it the minute it comes into your inbox. I probably have received about 20 of them in the past week.

Keep an eye out for them, apparently they are still coming.

Dan
Association of Computer Repair Business Owners

I was recently contacted by a computer business owner in regards to joining the Associaton of Computer Repair Business OWners (acrbo.com). The reason they contacted me was they had tried to join a forum for computer business owners and was declined due to not being registered in their state for at least one year.

So the question to me was “Is there a requirement that one has to be registered in their state for a year”?, “Or any other requirements”? Now this made me thing “Maybe we need some stringent requirements”….But, then reality set in and I realized no we don’t. The Association is for all business owners that feel as though they might benefit from the Association or feel that they can contribute to the Assocation. If you want to call it a “requirement” you can but what we do require is that you abide by a “Code of Conduct” in all your business dealings. To me that keeps it simple and it’s a personal preference if you feel that you can abide by them.

The thought of setting specific requirements to me is rather foolish for a number of reasons. First, when I started my business I had 20 years of experience in the industry. I worked on million dollar networks, and managed many others. So in the above case I would not be eligible to be part of that forum. Why? Becuase I was not registered in my state long enough? What is to say that the person who has been registered for a mere year does not only have “one year” of experience. What makes that business owner a better canidate then myself? To me it is a rather foolish way of doing things.

I am thinking maybe i’ll change the Association so anyone who wants to join has to meet the following requirements:

1. Your business has to be registered for at least 5 years
2. Your business has to be a corporation (no sole proprietorships or llc’s allowed)
3. Business insurance to include E&O Insurance
4. Tax statements showing at least 100K each and every year
5. At least 2 full-time employees
6. At least 1 company vehicle
7. Signed lease for at least the last 3 years of busienss showing you have a storefront

Granted I am only going to end up with let’s say about a dozen members but what a treat it will be. We can all visit the forum and tell each other how great we are and how much we respect each other for meeting the stringent requirements to join….

Wait…Another thought just crossed my mind……

How about if I keep the Association the way it is, and welcome all business owners, no matter the years of experience in the Assocaiation and help them grown their business. Or better yet, we continue to allow all owners into the Association and listen and hear what new innovative ideas they have to build a business model.

Don’t ever forget “everyone” has to start somewhere….”Seclusiveness” does not always mean better…

Dan
Association of Computer Repair Business Owners

Recently started getting a few calls into the shop from a person that said he was part of the “Verizon Win Back Team”. I have never heard of such a thing. So after letting him call a few times I decided to take the call. Come to find out what Verizon does is have a team and they are the “Win Back Team” and it’s for getting customers that have left advertising with Verizon Superpages to come back to them.

No to me this really does not make much sense, so in my mind I try to rationalize it out. If in my business I lose a customer due to something I did then I really do not think i’ll call them and tell them I am part of the “Win Back Team”. In business you typically get one chance to do things right and if you don’t then the way I see it you get what you deserve.

In this situation Verizon lost my business due to the way they went about running my ad in their Verizon Superpages one year without my approval of the ad. Now if you have never had the experience of dealing with Verizon or even Yellow Pages for that matter in a case of a problem then you are lucky becuase they will never take full responsibility.

What happens is you get every reason of how the problem happened and then you are told that the best they can do is knock like 15%-20% off your monthly advertising bill. To me again this makes no sense. You sign up for something and then you do not get what you were told. My mind tells me I do not pay, not that I pay at a reduced rate. But, then again I am not Verizon so maybe being a billion dollar company that is how it’s suppose to go.

I keep things simple….If you lost my business for reasons you brought upon yourself then do yourself a favor and do not call me and tell me you are part of a “Win Back Team”. Trust me “It Won’t Work”!

Dan
Computer Medics of Northern Virginia LLC

Paradigm Shifts for Techs Part 5:  Cheap Clients-hardware is a commodity, excellent customer service is not

By Derek Iannelli-Smith, IT Strategist, Progressive Integrations, Inc.,

Question:  What do you think my approach should be to introducing this new service (managed services) to “cheap” customers?

You make some great points, and I am quite familiar with them.  Considering most of our clients are consumers, I hear them regularly, which is why educational marketing is the key (http://computerrepairblog.com/paradigm-shifts-for-techs-educational-marketing.html). 

Nickel-and-diming clients are easily handled with proposals/quotes, and a good disclaimer statement upon acceptance of 80/20, for instance my proposals and quotes state:  “If you accept this proposal/quote, we require 80% up front and 20% upon completion of the project.  If you would like to pay by credit card, we can also accommodate that for you, please touch base with billing/finance to work out details.”  Why do I do this?  For the exact reasons you mentioned (not paying their bills after repair/project), but also because I already wear enough hats, and bill collector on top of tech/sales does not lead to a good relationship.  I used to spend more unbillable time discussing billing/finance than actually doing work in some cases which caused me to shift away from being bill collector.  Further, I want to be their tech (good relationship) and ‘rescue them’ which most of the time turns into a billable hour versus having to deal with distractions.

I recently fired a client because he was exactly like you described (client went on Amazon and tried to nickel and dime us and jeopardize our Cisco relationship) and I said the following to him;  “It sounds like we are not a good fit, and I can recommend many other companies in the area for you who seemed more suitable to your needs and demands.  If you decided to use Progressive Integrations, Inc., for your networking, know that our prices are final, our relationships with our vendors supersede potential clients and are not up for negotiation.  We appreciate your understanding with this.”  He sent me another email, and made another call (both non billable) and I deleted them and moved on to other venues.  The $1600 quote was not worth it for the hours of whining and complaining I had already dealt with.

Bryce at Technibble wrote on this very topic at the beginning of the year:  http://www.technibble.com/surviving-in-a-world-of-cheap-hardware/

Question:  Which remote desktop client should I use for increasing my bottom line with clients?

Personally, being an ACRBO member, I do not use the logmein as the subscription price was horrendous compared to team viewer (who are now partners with us).  1x fee, and I install the ‘free’ version all over the place and copy my client’s (with their permission) log on id, and I can do so much more than logmein.  Further with a registered version, I can retain an automatic entry of the machine, and with one-click, I am on their machine.  I minimize my overhead so that I am not always concerned with the bottom line and can focus on customer service versus paying bills.

For instance, my first goal when I was given leeway to develop an IT Business for our company was to cover my expenses.  I found that the only way to do that is to do managed services, as it is reliable reoccurring revenue that pays the bills while I spend my time on marketing, break fix, and block hour clients.  To directly address your ‘cheap customer’ problem.  I educate them, and when they refuse, I gladly remain firm with my flat hourly rate ($139) and realize (as Dan Hand and I agree) they will come back after geek squad, uncle ferd, or when they mess up their machine, and what they are going to have to learn is that I told the truth in the first place.  Good client testimonials remind you (and them) that you are a professional, not eBay.  This too is very similar to the ‘bartering’ question, and I thought “Freelance Folder” also affirmed and expressed similar sentiments as well:  http://freelancefolder.com/what-would-you-tell-this-client/

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Been getting these emails recently from Fast Certifications .  Here is the way it works:

“100% Pass Without Any Test (exam) Or Study, Our professionals will help you to take your tests (exams) In pearson VUE and Thomson Prometric. No risk, payment through Paypal, moneygram, western union, Moneybookers, Xoom.com and bank wire transfer. Check your Results on Vendor official website first, then pay Us. ”

Now after you pay the money you can login to Pearson Vue or Prometric and see your test results. I have no doubt that you will pass the test. I also have no doubt that you “WILL” get caught.  It might not be that day, but you will be caught doing this.  Actually I am really not sure how exactly they are pulling this off.  Some test require you to sign and have a picture taken. Now to me that picture better match up with a previous picture or it will raise a flag. The signature could also do this, but I think the picture would really do it.

Running a test center ourselves I am very familiar with the security that is put into place in order to make sure this type of testing does not happen.  So it’s a guess but I am thinking they are outside the U.S. and in time will be shut down.

Plus, if you look at the pricing WOW. You are actually better off buying a book, doing a bit of studying and taking the test. Even if you were not fortunate to passt he first time you could then re-test. All-in-all it’s still going to be cheaper than paying FastCertifications.

In the end it will end up being like the movie “Taken” with Liam Neeson:
“I will look for you, I will find you, …..”

You will get caught, you will lose any certifications you have,  you will be ruined….

Easy resolution to this…..”Don’t Do It!”

Dan
ACRBO.COM

Business: Certified Tech PC and MAC Computer Repair Services of Peterborough, NH
Website: www.ctechrepair.com
Owner: Jeff Bruere

Family: Single

First Job: Farm hand

Where did you grow up: Tewksbury, MA

What did you want to be when you grow up: I didnt know

How did you end up owning your own business: Entrepreneur at heart

What is the biggest decision you are wrestling with now: Pricing

What is one thing you would change about your job: Relocate to more urban area

What do you like most about your job now:  Troubleshooting

What motivates you: Learning and Fixing

What do you do for fun: Yoga

What do you consider your greatest achievement so far: Bachelors Degree in Business Science

What the best career advice anyone has given you: Do what you want to do not someone else

I visit alot of forums and one thing that remains constant is the amount of business owners that talk about marketing and what is working and what is not working.

The one thing you always read is “what can I do that is guaranteed to work”….I always read that and for some crazy reason I will read the next few replies actually thinking to myself  “I’m going to find out the REAL answer” . Well as you can guess, I never do find out. The reason for this is there is NO real answer when it comes to marketing. Every business owner must decide for themselves how much they can afford, what their area supports for advertising and basically what does and what does not work in their area.

I’ve known some businesses that can put out a few road signs and they get business daily. I know other busiensses that can spend 5K a month on advertising and just barely break even.

I think what is important is that you have to continually advertise. You can’t just advertise “when you want” and have it work. Advertising has to be done each and every day of your existence to some extent in order to have it be productive. There are literally thousands of ways a business can advertertise and nobody is going to try each and everyone of them, but you have to have a starting point.

Check around in your area and see what others are doing for advertising. Look and see if others are doing pretty much the same sort of advertising each and every month. If you can track what others are doing you at least have a starting point of what actually “might work”. But, until you actually start doing it yourself you will never know.

To compile a list of possible advertising I don’t think is needed there are entirely too many locations on the net that you can find those types of list. To me keep it simple and do the things that you can easily do with little or no upfront cost.

1. Work on your website not only for content but for meta tags, descriptions, image tags, cross linking, blogs, etc.
2. Utilize social media such as facebook, linkedin, myspace, etc.
3. Utilize SMS marketing (yes new advertising means, but who do you know that does not carry a phone with them)
3. Look for community forums in your area to joing and give feedback to others (who knows you might become the expert)
4. Volunteer to give classes at community centers or other locations that they will advertisie for you

Marketing your business should be a daily ritual and one if done properly will pay off in the long run

Dan
CmoNova.com
Acrbo.com

Featured Business
Business: Mid-Iowa Computers, Inc.
Website: www.midiowacomputers.com
Owner: Noah Deters

Family: My lovely wife of 8 years and a smart and sassy daughter

First Job: Retail computer sales

Where did you grow up: Central Iowa – So I know the area that I am trying to serve.

What did you want to be when you grow up: I wanted to either run my own business or try and be a high end specialist in computers

How did you end up owning your own business: While working my full time position I had a large number of people asking me for computer help, and after I reached a certain customer base decided to formalize it into a company.

What is the biggest decision you are wrestling with now: How to grow the business while still having a balance between family and my full time career

What is one thing you would change about your job: I would like to become fully employed by my business and still provide the same lifestyle for my family.

What do you like most about your job now: It’s exciting to deal with small businesses and learn the way they use computers to complete their jobs.

What motivates you: I have a pure excitement for life and for technology, and seeing my daughter grow up normalized to the internet, smartphones, and all the things I didn’t have when I grew up.

What do you do for fun: I love going fishing on my 16′ flat bottom boat, swimming and spending time with my family.

What do you consider your greatest achievement so far: Landing my full time position at age 23 and proving to the organization that I could be trusted with the responsibilities they needed me to handle.

What the best career advice anyone has given you: Always be responsible and try to work with the situations that have been put in front of you. You never know when the worst week of your professional life will turn into an amazing opportunity.

“Mid-Iowa Computers, Inc. Serving Ames, Des Moines, and Surrounding Communities”