I enjoy browsing around Craigslist not only to post our services which i’ve covered in another post but also to read the ads about “services” wanted.

What amazes me is when I see things like this:

“This position is non-paying from the start with the opportunity to grow and gain experience”

So non-paying and???? I get to learn while I grow….Hmmm not very enticing..

“A Web Design firm needs to outsource several graphic design projects.  Looking to pay between 50 and 100 for each”

So you are an actual “Web Design” firm that probably charges $500-$1,000 for a design and you are willing to pay me $50-$100…hmmm don’t see this happening.

“Easy fix needed - Autofeeder top is slightly dislodged and looks like it needs to be slid into the hinge. I’m not willing to pay $125 for this easy repair. Should be an easy $50″

Well is this is an “easy fix” then I assume you are very knowledgeable when it comes to fixing things…Should be no problem I recommend keeping the $50 and doing it yourself.

“Should know Windows XP Pro and Windows 2003 Server. Knowledge of networking, firewalls, Routers and switches is a plus. $20.00 per hour”

XP Pro, Server 2003, Networking, Firewalls, Routers, Switches….For a blazing $20 an hour…Maybe it really was suppose to say $20 per hour for each one that you know.

I recommend to people posting ads to be a bit realistic on your ad. DO NOT run a business and then try to be cheap and embarrass yourself with the postings you are putting. Or better yet, continue to put “cheap” ads for work and then when you are not satisfied with the work  don’t complain.

Here is an example:

Foolish Ad:

“New business needing website. We want flash, sql database, first page of search engines and all the bells and whistles. We acknowledge that this site will generate us thousands upon thousands of dollars over time and that is why we are willing let you learn and use this site for future reference”
Pay: not alot of money

Same Ad But Realistic:

“New business needing website. We want flash, sql database, first page of search engines and all the bells and whistles. We acknowledge that this site will generate us thousands upon thousands of dollars over time and that is why we are willing to pay whatever your rate is in order to obtain our goals.
Pay: $750$100 per hour or flat rate for project

National Association of Computer Repair Business Owners

The National Association of Computer Repair Business Owners is a trade association of Computer Repair Business owners, dedicated to the advancement of the Computer Repair Business through the building of trust and professionalism of its members. Every association member pledges to adhere to the Code’s standards as a condition of admission and continuing membership in the Association.

Membership benefits include partnerned vendors with discounts for their services/products and more. If you own a computer repair business then you owe it to yourself to join the National Association of Computer Repair Business Owners.

www.nacrbo.com

I was recently in the Best Buy in Fredericskburg, VA. What a treat it was seeing the young man in the computer department sell a computer and monitor to an older lady. I would title it “the ultimate upsell”…This guy did not just have one upsell but he had 4 in all.

I found the best one was this:

Best Buy Employee: “Do you know how when you get a new computer it has all those program on it you don’t want?”
Customer: “Yes, I know what you mean”
Best Buy Employee: “Well, we have a service and we will remove all those programs from the computer”
Customer:  “Can’t I just remove them myself?”
Best Buy Employee: “No, that is where people get confused. If you try to go in and just “remove” the program it really
is still there and it will come back”
Customer: “Wow, I did not know that.”
Best Buy Employee: “Of course you didn’t, that is why we have a service to do that for you that way we make sure the
programs are removed completely”
Customer: “How much is that”
Best Buy Employee: “Not all that much, but let me tell you about another service we offer”…..

I stopped listening there. I was amazed that after all these years in the field I have removed probably thousands of programs from computers for customers and not once did they ever call me back and say “Hey the program came back”. I researched this last nite
and can’t find anywhere that explains this dilemma to me.

I’d almost have to give the Best Buy employee an “A” for effort on the up-sell…Unfortunetely I have a problem with selling
things to customers that they don’t need.

As most of you have read about my blogging of “IT Service Profits “mailing”…This is a follow up to that post.

After putting the post I received a few e-mails from Bob Britton the owner of IT Service Profits & Computer Service Profits. Needless to say he was not all to pleased with my perception of his mailing.

After a few e-mails went back and forth we actually talked on the phone about my post and why I posted what I did. I will reiterate that my original post was not “bashing” the product, but the amusement I found in the post card. To me the post card was a form of “MLM” marketing. If you don’t know what that is well….google it.

Next thing I knew I received the “entire” ComputerServiceProfits kit in the mail so I could actually do a legitimate review of the materials and see what I really thought of it. I will tell you now once I received it I did tell Mr. Britton “If I don’t like it, I am going to post again exactly that”…and to my dismay he was fine with that.

So now I have had a chance to “fully” review the entire kit and also talked to Mr. Britton again on a few occasions (first to go over my 20 questions) and then just in general. My newfound look on this product is it’s a “keeper”.

There are a lot of other kits from other companies out there (I’ve seen them) and I know what they consist of. Typically they consist of taking your money and you are done with them. But with the ComputerServiceProfits you are actually getting a well documented, professional kit that is going to only help your business grow.

Being in business for years I am hesitant to believe anyone with their “kits” and the “all-in-one” savior type packages. But, with this package you are getting years of marketing experience wrapped into a package that you can easily implement into your business model and continue to grow.

On top of that you are getting someone like Bob Britton who is genuinely interested/concerned in seeing you be successful (not common in this day and age). Mr. Britton was telling me of other things they plan on doing in the future with the package and what that tells me is they are in this for the long haul. This is not just a get rich quick scheme.

Now here is my “disclaimer” on the ComputerServiceProfits package. If you buy this package and you set it on your shelf and do not implement these ideas it will not work….If you read a section and think to yourself “that can’t work” and then you don’t do it….again…it will not work. But, if you actually take the time and do exactly what is in the package your will have no choice but to see results.

Bottom line…If you want to be successful, if you want to continue to be successful, then get the ComputerServiceProfits package.  It is well worth checking into here

Now I know alot of people will be turned off by this due to their thought process on Craigslist.

I advertise on Craigslist…I’ll say it again…I advertise on Craigslist….

There i’ve said it…And we get jobs off Craigslist. We get network install off Cragislist, we get Contracts off Craigslist.

Craigslist advertising to me is great for a few reasons and the first and foremost reason is it’s “free”…Craigslist get’s millions of visitors a month so I can’t justify not doing advertising on it.

Some say “it’s all cheap advertising”, “people are looking for bargins”, “people won’t pay your rates”…Well I don’t change our rates for Craigslist advertising, it’s the same as any other advertising means we do.

What I bank on is out of the millions of people searching on Craigslist for work to be done that they are actually going to go with a company that is well established, looks professional, and has an establised presence.

So to all those that say “nay to Craigslist”, I say “great…more for me”

Don’t sleep on Craigslist advertising…

Sometimes you have to sit back and think if it’s actually worth the time or money to repair a computer. Alot of things come into play such as the make/model of the computer, how good is it, what is it used for, and finally what’s it worth.

We have alot of computers we work on that have serious issues and it basically comes down to doing the right thing. Do you tell the customer to put “x” amount of dollars into repairing it or are they just better off replacing it.

Really need to get a feel for this and direct the customer in the right direction. Nothing worse then doing a massive repair and shortley thereafter the customer having another problem that is going to entail them putting more money into the computer.

Sometimes it is just better to let the customer know their choices and then lead them in the direction that is best for the customer.

Dan
Computer Repair Business Learned

Added Note: When reading this also read the “new” post about IT Service Profits

Received a postcard in the mail today from a Bob Britton….One of those sending to everyone type of cards. Big letters on the front saying “Give me just 15 mintues….” you know the type.

Found it amusing especially the parts about:

“Do you get pissed off becasue sometimes your emplyees make more than you do….”

and also:

“Now I live the life most dream about”

Very compelling statements that peaked my interest. I’m thinking to myself “wow, living the dream”…how nice…..

So I go to the site get the guarantee I won’t get spammed and that I can download the “free” report. So I bite and I do it. The report comes and it’s about 20+ pages of marketing hype. Then you get to the bottom and it’s actaully offering you a “package” for running your business, it has all the things you will get and their “actual” cost then how much you can save in this massive package.

So all together there are 2 packages and the prices are respectfully $797 or $997…WOW I can save “4,615 on one package and $9,014 on the other package.

To me this sounds too good to be true….So with that mindset I think i’ll pass on this golden opportunity. But if you have nothing to do and want to see how someone is “living the life most dream about” here is the link:
www.itserviceprofits.com

Next week I am going to do my own postcard mailing and my attention
getting is going to be in big letters across the top:

“How to work your A** off in the Computer Repair Industry”

Dan
Computer Repair Business Lessons Learned

If you are running a computer business and one of the services you offer is web design then you are already ahead of the game. But, what you need to look into if you are not already doing it is utilizing Wordpress for your sites you are creating.

There is an abundance of information about Wordpress and different things you can do with it. There are also many many templates that you can use for your sites that you are designing.

On top of all that there are “Plugins” such as “All In One SEO” that is great for getting those websites listed in the search engines.

One of the companies out there that I am a big fan of their product is from Advantus Media, Inc. , they produce the Flexibility theme and the product is outstanding.

Another company out there is Studiopress and the themes are from Brian Gardner. Check out the themes and you will see the variety you have to select from.

Not only do both those companies offer some great themes to use but their support is also outstanding which when you are starting off with Wordpress could come in handy.

Dan
Computer Repair Business Lessons Learned

I was actually driving today when I saw a vehicle with an advertisement on the side of it with their business name, phone number and website address. The more I looked at it I realized something was wrong. Their website had a word spelled incorrectly. I actually called the number and talked to the owner and said what I had seen and he could not believe it. They called me back later in the day and said “sure enough it was a typo” on their ad.

Today many businesses are gaining an edge on their competition just by having a web site that provides their address, phone number, and even directions to their storefront. There are key benefits to a web site you should consider:

*Gives your company prestige
*Allow customers to contact you on-line from your site
*Show potential customers the professional image they expect from any business in today’s information age
*Allow customers the ease of browsing your products or services on-line
*Reduce costs associated with paper brochures, advertising in newspapers
*This will be the savviest investment your business had made since its inception

The Internet provides a fast and convenient way to gather information, products, or services from people or businesses around the world. Imagine opening up your business to the world 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Purpose of a Website?

To look fancy? To look high-tech? To make money? The answer is to make money. Too many people are concerned with the “looks” of their site and don’t realize that you can have a 10K site but if it is not done correctly it will return no profit. The idea of having a website is to make money for your business through this advertising. A website should be something that you put thought into, put proper work into, and then never have to worry about it again. But, when all is done you should have visitors coming to your site, you should make contacts from your site, you should make money from your site.

Why a Website?

If you have a business you have to have a website. Years ago this would not of mattered but in todays world you need to have a website. Think of the amount of people in the Fredericksburg, Stafford and surrounding areas that work in Northern Virginia. Typically what people do is go to work then decide they need something done or want to look up some type of service/business. Well they are not going to look in the phone book, instead what they will do is look online.

How Do People Find You?

Your website should attract visitors. Visitors in turn become cusomters. Say for example you own a “dog grooming” business. The name of your business is “Elite Dog Grooming” and you are located in Fredericksburg. Of couse if someone knows the name of your business and types that “exact” address in Google, Yahoo, or the other search engines they should be able to find you. Can they find you?

Now that is great if the potential customer knows your business name, but what about the person just looking for a “dog grooming” business in say Fredericksburg? This potential customer types in Goolge “dog grooming fredericksburg”. Will this potential customer find your business?

These are the types of searches people do when looking for a service provider, seldom do they know the name of the business theh are looking for.

Search Engine Optimization?

People always ask about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The majority of the time the person does not need to pay a “continual” fee for SEO to be done. If your business website is properly put together and coded correctly then your site will work for you. There is no “magic” to getting your business listed in the search engines and “nobody” can guarantee that they can do this for you. The best you can hope for is having your website done properly and that will make it happen.
Can you pay for SEO? Yes, there are companies that will set you up, and you can do monthly payments for “x” amount of dollars. But, all you are going to be doing is spending money on something that you don’t need. Again, if your website is done properly SEO is going to work on it’s own.

Linking

What is linking? Linking is when people want to trade website links with you. That is they will put a link on their site to your business and in return you will put a link on your business to their site. As much as it’s a nice gesture to do things like this it will not help your website in the search engines or being found. What you want is that website that will list your website with nothing in return. Linking to each other negates the effect on it.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is your website should be making you money. Your website should be getting you inquiries about your business. Your website should be your first and foremost number one priority in advertising.

Dan
Computer Repair Business Lessons Learned
www.computerrepairbusiness.net

Alright you are in the IT field and you have never heard of Hak5? Hmmmmm I guess maybe it’s about time to change careers….

Ok that was a joke…Seriously if you have not heard of these guys you owe it to yourself to check them out.  Live show, podcast, hackhouse (crazy) and all kind of things. What is great to me is that this is a show done each and every single week…Now to some this might not seem like a big deal, but trust me it is. There is alot of thought and work that goes into this type of show “IF” you want it to be successful…..The Hak5 team has made it successful.

Actually did a visit to Hak5 this week to check out a live recording…..Very Very impressive…..Hit up the site and check them out  here