Paradigm Shifts for Techs: Educational Marketing by Derek R. Iannelli, IT Strategist, Progressive Integrations, Inc., We love our buzz words. This is the newest one I have grabbed onto and that is probably because I have been chewing a lot on Robin Robbins stuff lately. What is ‘educational marketing’? I will define it as: “The systematic, intentional, and customer service driven education of your current and prospective clients for loyalty and longevity by direct response.” First let me start off with, I am still learning and there are better guru’s on this topic than me (just type ‘educational marketing’ into Google). What does this have to do with the IT business and isn’t that what they pay me for? I sense this objection quite a bit when I try to talk with other techs and once I explain that it is a process, an [+]

Was reading an article today on the importance of "local listings". If you are not already doing it you need to set some time aside each day and review how you are using the Intenet to boost your business. If you are thinking the word "marketing" and Internet is not included in that thinking then you need to rethink your marketing plan. Out of all the advertising avenues you can take the Internet is the cheapest and can be the most profitable if used correctly. Here is a fact: "Over 75% of searches for local businesses & services occur online". Are you maximizing your online presence? Great read here [+]

The Association of Computer Repair Business Owners "www.Acrbo.com" has added a new site to it's portal for computer repair business owners. We are proud to announce it's newest site TechSupportQA.com "Technical Support and Questions & Answers". Unlike your typical forums, this site is simply for "Questions & Answers", no small talk, no chit-chat. The added benefit is you can provide "Video & Audio" to it vice just text. The site is TechSupportQA.com and stands for "Technical Support Questions & Answers". Unlike other sites that are your typical Q&A sites there is "NO" fee for this site. You gain points for each question, each answer and "best" answer. There are a lot of techs out there with great knowledge and enjoy sharing with others. This site rewards you for that. TechSupportQA: Question/Answer Video & Audio Ratings System SEO Optimized Customization Facebook/Twitter [+]

Having maintained over 50 websites for the past few years we have finally taken the plunge and started our own hosting company. The thought of starting it was planned for quite some time, it was just a matter of putting it into effect. You would think starting a hosting company would not be all that difficult...wrong ;)  So many things to learn and do that sometimes it was crazy. But, with all that said we are finally done. The business is: Veteran Web Hosting Like everything else Veteran Web Hosting allows a discount to all members of the Association of Computer Repair Business Owners. [+]

Many of you know Steve Cherubio the creator of PodNutz and you may know him as the guy who puts out those amazing Laptop Repair Video's. But, now Steve has come out with the TechSiteBuilder package. This product is specifically built for computer repair technicians/businesses that need to get an Internet presence. This is basically a turn-key operation to use. It comes with everything you need and all you have to do is put your information for yourself or your business into it. I could go into more details but no need, Steve has put a site up and you can see all that comes with the TechSiteBuilder. [+]

Great article on 2009 Internet Stats here Few things jump out at you. Being in business one of the blocks of number is: Internet users * 1.73 billion – Internet users worldwide (September 2009). * 18% – Increase in Internet users since the previous year. * 738,257,230 – Internet users in Asia. * 418,029,796 – Internet users in Europe. * 252,908,000 – Internet users in North America. * 179,031,479 – Internet users in Latin America / Caribbean. * 67,371,700 – Internet users in Africa. * 57,425,046 – Internet users in the Middle East. * 20,970,490 – Internet users in Oceania / Australia. So you don't have to be a genius to see that no matter where you live there is a massive amount of people using the internet.  That being the case it's safe to assume there should be plenty of work now and in the future.  The Malicious Code numbers are [+]

**Edited 27 jan 2010... Now "Comptia" has changed their mind, or better yet clarified their position here. Seems now if you do or have done the A+, Net+ or Security Plus on or before 31 Dec 2011 then you are still good for life.... Not surprising that Comptia is finally on board and has changed their policies on how long cerifications are good for. Not sure if I really like this or not. Obviously having all the certifications that they are now changing to a "renewal" policy I am looking at it from that aspect. I can almost buy off on the Network+ and Security needing to be renewed, but having a difficult time with the A+ needing it. My mindset has always been that there is a progression path to certifications and it was: A+ Net+ MCP CCNA Then you could do the big boys such as [+]

I was at a business clients yesterday. I started working on their network a few months ago and as of yet they have not signed on for a "maintenance contract" which typically I would of been upset with by now but if they do not seem to care I am not going to hound them about it. But, I will bill them for each and every minute I am on site or my technician(s) are on site. Well yesterday was setup so the "old" computer person they had would come in and try to recover some old data that apparently only he and the owner knew about. They had been running a program to monitor all e-mail traffic and then log it into sql databases. Well someone should of coordinated better due to the "old" server that had crashed was at another [+]

If you notice a recent post has been removed. The reason for removal is simply this "I am done with anyone who is not looking to improve our industry in general"...I have many other things to focus on that I believe will help our industry and the small business owner and that is where I am going to put my efforts in the upcoming year. [+]

US Commerce Association - Ashley Carter As you can see we have won an award!!!! But, WAIT so did a million other people..haha This has got to be one of the best deals going and here is how it works. They  send out a million emails to different businesses and claim they won the award. Then they tell them they can use the pictures and even get a press release to go with the award...So far so good....... Now the good part For $79.99 I can get the award in a plaque...Or for $179.99 I can get the one in the picture and lastly for the package price of $199.00 I can get both.... Now it's not worth trying to contact them and get some verification because all e-mails come back with a generic response. I asked [+]