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 [+]

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 [+]

Burning Bridges Some of you that are not youngsters probably have heard these words at some point or another. Typically it's used in sentences such as "Don't burn any bridges"...Basically what that means is to think before you do something because if you don't you won't be able to correct it. Now, don't get me wrong in my 40+ years I have "burned bridges" and even pulled a "Bridge on the River Kwai" (if you have never seen it great WW II movie), where I went well past the burning of the bridge. In hindsight I have never looked back as any that I burned and wished I could correct or made amends. That is not to say it is a good thing, burning any bridge is never a good thing in life or in business. Maybe if I had burned them in my earlier years [+]

Not sure what they are? Here is the easy definition from Wiki: A QR Code is a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code) created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. The "QR" is derived from "Quick Response", as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed. You may have already noticed that some places in your area have started using QR Codes, and if you have not noticed any then stand by because you will. QR Codes are starting to pick up alot in the U.S. but it will be some time before it catches on like it has in Japan and other countries. QR Codes put in simple terms is an instant identification, ad, opportunity, or anything else that you are trying to [+]

Recently had a "potential" customer meet with me about doing what he referred to as a website. So I met with him went out things about his business and then he asked "So you do websites right?"...My answer was "no what I do is create a web presence"... Now some of you might think what in the heck is that, so i'm going to explain it to you. Anyone and I do mean just about anyone can create a website. My child created on in I think 8th grade. So yes when I say anyone I mean exactly that. Now a "web presence" is someone who can not only create a website but can make it so people can actually find the site. An example is if your domain name is "my business website" and someone goes to google and types in [+]

Backups....You tell customers that word over and over again yet you still find people out there that do not backup their data properly. How many times have you told a customer about backing up their files? Sometimes you go as far as giving them a flash drive and explain how to use it or demonstrate it for them only to have them come back to you about lost data. I actually think people do not realize that it can happen to them. I can't count the amount of times I have had customers lose their data due to hardware damage and either they can't recover it or it's cost a small fortune to recover it. For that reason alone you need to get your customers on an online backup program. Yes, I know of the "great concern" about online backups and security/protection and [+]

Paradigm Shifts for Techs: Managed Services Part 1 by Derek R. Iannelli, IT Strategist, Progressive Integrations, Inc., When I ‘closed’ my first M&S agreement (maintenance & support), I thought I finally figured it out, and if I could sell enough of them, our business would making the American Dream come true. That was 10 years ago. Until this past year, I still had the same thoughts regarding M&S agreements until our economy started to affect our clients too. Instead of the fluidity or automatic renewal agreements (essentially blocks of hours for them to use whatever way they wanted), I noticed a change in our maintenance appointments first. They started to turn them down because they wanted to save their hours. What ended up happening, no matter what type of convincing argument I had, was it inevitably turned into a B/F (break-fix, one-shot, one-kill) [+]