Hooked on Paying for Cable?

The following article explains how to adjust your settings so you can have control over which friends you can hide your status updates from.

How to hide from Facebook friends you don’t like:

Here is an article you can review on CNET that will give you an idea on what to look for:

The best (and worst) laptop keyboards

This is something I am sure the FBI has done for years but apparently it is so easy now even your friend can do it. Watch this video to find out more about protecting yourself!

Here is a link to the whole article:

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/344/best-laptops-and-desktops-of-2010/

It’s easy to setup your account, select your local area under computer services, and write some text in your ad so its searchable through google as well as within the Craigslist site.  Then….

THE REAL SECRET IS GETTING A PROFESSIONAL LOOOKING JPEG IMAGE FLYER CREATED!

ALSO MAKE SURE TO CONTAIN LINKS ON THE IMAGE AND IN THE TEXT BACK TO YOUR OWN WEBSITE!

By utilizing some html script in your ad you can post a JPG flyer ad that will draw in customers.  Check out mine that have been created for some examples.  I had each one created for about 30 dollars each and I use them over and over again.  Outside of referral marketing this has been the most successful form of advertising for brining in at least 10% of my business every month!  AND ITS FREE!

1. In most cases when you meet people at the Chambers your going to find that you will need to build relationships with those people before you can convert them to actual paying customers. I have found that I need to meet someone at least three different times for this too really happen. A lot of times you’ll run into people asking for too much free advice and never pay. Avoid these people and give higher priority to someone you think will actually pay you for what you are worth. 
2. You’ll also going to meet lots of people who are involved in Multi Level Marketing programs, or just other businesses that want to just sell and not buy. Your learn after personal experience how to develop a gut feeling in who is going to be worth perusing a working relationship with, and who is just trying to sell, sell, sell and not buy. 
3. On a final note, I would visit the various chambers around your area and maybe join the top two that you feel are valuable. Be aware of others in your industry and there relationships with the other people. If the customers your trying to talk with already have a strong relationship with the other computer guy, move on to someone who you can sell too, or find out if they are happy and see if you can deliver something the other computer service is not doing. Use this as one way to meet people but also get involved in other local activities so you meet other people again and again. Over time you’ll find you bump into the same people at different mixers, rotary groups, business fairs, dinners, and ribbon cuttings! Over time you’ll meet friends and lots of potential business customers if you give it enough time! 

There is not set time limit for how long things should take or how many customers your actually going to get. The focus here is Referral Marketing and this is just one tool of that type of marketing.

Scott,

I recently watched your You-Tube Video and really learned some things. I am starting my own computer repair business and trying to come up with my companies name. The more I read the more I realize the importance of a good name. One that is catchy, not cliche, simple, has my companies theme linked to it etc… I am wanting the name to be the same as my website address. It seems like lots of the good names and one\’s I think of are taken. I am originally from Australia and am now living in Massachusetts. I was going to use pcmaestro, but the .com domain is already used. Some names I have thought of that are not taken are as follows:

pcozgeek.com, pchoudini.com, techiedr.com, pccureit.com,

Is it important to have PC in the name or should I go for something a little different. How does it work when people are doing a google search to come up with Computer Repair Companies in m area. Any feedback/suggestions would be great. Thanks.

——–My Response Below———-

Hey Craig,

If your just doing a local small business then pick a name that you like and go with it.  I had a similar problem that you have with picking the name.  I focused on a name that would allow me to think big and not just limit myself to doing just computer repair.  I wanted it to focus on anything relating to technology.  So I chose Bates Technology Group.  The name is long for a website but I chose batestechgroup.com for short.  All those names are great, I would chose one you like and then brand it locally by providing a good reliable service.

Its easy to get caught up in all the think big stuff right now.  I would just keep it small and just focus on building your clients first.  As things progress so will the complexities of the structure of your business.  Word of mouth will probably make up 75% of your return business, the website will be just a small part so that is way the name should be something you like and is easy to remember.  No one else will care about the name as much as how good the service is.

Hope this helps!

Scott

This type of service will allow you to have all the power of a big company phone system with no expensive hardware and nothing to maintain. You can choose a local and toll free number for your business! The biggest feature that comes in handy is a call forwarding feature that you can assign a certain extension. For example when I have people call my business they can press 1 for Tech Support, 2 for Sales, 3 for Client Relations, and 4 for the Front Desk. Each extension can be programmed to forward the call to a cell phone, home phone, or another ring central internet phone. I have my setup going for about 30 bucks a month!

Also, it helps to have a person with a good voice make your greeting, there are services who can do this for you and most will do a one minute recording for under a couple hundred bucks!

This is just one more idea I thought I would share for someone wondering how to get the phones setup in your new business. With the flexibility of a cell phone and call forwarding through a virtual PBX, you really don’t need to pay an answering service or receptionist unless you want too!

1) You need some type of supplemental income starting out, either from your wife / husband, a part time job, a huge savings account, or a trust fund.

2) Don’t borrow more on credit than about 10% of your gross income. If your gross income is still negative, then you don’t use credit cards.

3) One man shows are very difficult to run, I recommend you have at least one business partner you can trust. I know this is hard but it is an absolute nowadays where it seems like every great idea always involves two minds instead of one.

4) Don’t get caught up all the legal structuring like CORPS and LLC’s, and hiring CPA’s etc.. this is all unnecessary until you start making the big bucks. I had a 1 million dollar liability insurance policy that only costs 250 dollars per year! That’s a lot cheaper than the minimum tax of a LLC or Corp.

5) 90% of the people you talk with will have bad advice and don’t really know much more than you. You have to become your own expert through trial and error. Doing trial and error with no supplemental income will put you out of business quick!

There are many other things to consider but I felt these topics are very important to keep in the back of your mind at all times!