Small Business Computer Consulting

PC maintenance contracts and technical phone support is crucial to maintaining the integrity of your business. Whether you sell merchandise or technology services, your organization requires some element of support via telephone and the way to do it is with PC maintenance contracts.

In this article, you’ll learn how giving your customers the ability to reach your company directly will dramatically influence their purchasing behavior, so you need to be able to provide systems that are always up and ready to be accessed.

Prices Are Increasing

Unfortunately, the cost of help-desk support positions have drastically increased since 1998 and companies are now opting for PC maintenance contracts in order to save or reduce costs. One online study claimed in-house phone support for major corporations jumped from $12 dollars per call in 1998 to $22 dollars per call in 2002. So why the increase?

Keeping Pace with the Changes

Because technology is advancing at a lightning pace, many hardware and software expenses have decreased considerably over the last ten years. In addition, the cost of PC maintenance contracts necessary to operate this technology has risen. In response to these inflated increases in costs, many organizations have taken their business to consultants who offer PC maintenance contracts.

Computer support, database management, website design and other information services are being outsourced to companies who offer PC maintenance contracts.

The Bottom Line about PC Maintenance Contracts

In this article, you’ve learned more about PC maintenance contracts. To learn more about PC maintenance contracts, click here now to get access to free tips and an audio training excerpt on PC maintenance contracts.

Yes, non-profits are viable. But there are certainly more financially rewarding sectors for IT specialists. Let’s first take a look at the pros of non-profits.

• It’s easy to reach non-profits because they belong to trade groups and you can get your hands on the publicly available directories
• You can get a lot of tremendous emotional satisfaction and gratification knowing you’re helping a particular cause.

The two biggest downsides of non-profit:

• Thin profit margins
• Bidding wars

Bid situations reduce your firm to a commodity. Additionally, when you bid against someone else’s specs, your competitor may be shortcutting. Thus lowering the bid price and keeping you from quoting a more realistic solution.

Non Profits and Government Bids Are Tricky for IT Specialists

For most IT specialists, selling to private sector small businesses is going to be a lot easier than trying to navigate the waters of non-profit and government bids. The unfortunate part is, in most cases, non-profits and government agencies are legally bound to take the quoted price.

The Downside of Bidding Wars for IT Specialists

When you’re getting into a bidding situation, you really don’t have the luxury of the trust, personality, and credibility factors helping you all that much. It really usually boils down to who can post the bond, who can follow the rules, and who can get the bid in on time.

Then, on top of everything else, bidding requires you to do a ton of non-billable upfront work that you can normally bill for in the private sector. This non-billable work consists of researching, developing configurations, and bringing it all together. And the reality is this: getting the contract may be a real long shot.

Bidding Wisely

If you are going to try a competitive bid, don’t bet your whole company on it. Make sure that your bid chasing time is no more than 20% of your business development efforts. Unless your company is 100% focused on selling to non-profits or government agencies, you’re usually better off concentrating on the traditional private sector small businesses. If a government agency is looking to outsource support services, and it’s a well thought out request for proposal (RFP), it becomes a more interesting proposition. If the agency however is just looking to buy hardware and some one-shot deal installation services, you’re going to run into a lot of profitability challenges.

The Bottom Line on Non Profits for IT Specialists

Non-profit and government are still better niche options for IT specialists than just going down the retail path. But non-profit and government are anywhere near as attractive as the sweet spot of small business computer consulting.

In this article, you’ve learned about the non profit sector for IT specialists. To learn more about IT specialists, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Software maintenance contracts for companies who use Windows as one of their main software tools is an excellent investment for business owners and private computer users alike. Anyone using a computer is likely to rely on a Windows application at some point, and so, as you’ll learn in this article, it is a good idea to maintain access to a knowledgeable technician under the umbrella of software maintenance contracts.

Use Windows and Gain Support

Given the wide use of this program, you need to invest in windows oriented software maintenance contracts. Everyone uses Windows but it still can have problems. From students working in Word to parents managing finances in Excel, Windows-based applications are ubiquitous. Because of this, it is a good idea for everyone to get familiar with the basics of using these programs and to fall back on software maintenance contracts if they need to. Most often, a free computer class or online tutorial will do the trick and give you the skills necessary to function independently.

However, all of us are stopped in our tracks from time to time by unforeseen computer difficulties and this is when software maintenance contracts can be helpful. These problems usually tax our limited knowledge base and require that we look into online computer help or other forms of assistance like software maintenance contracts. All too often, what we are looking for is Windows-oriented software maintenance contracts.

You Won’t Regret It

Software maintenance contracts are available not because this software tends to be deficient, but rather, because it can be used for so many diverse purposes that it is likely you will need assistance in the future. Software maintenance contracts support is not something you’ll regret investing in. In fact, you might just find software maintenance contracts save you time, energy, and money in the long run.

The Bottom Line about Software Maintenance Contracts

In this article, you’ve been introduced to Windows-oriented software maintenance contracts. To learn more about software maintenance contracts, click here now to get access to free tips and an audio training excerpt on software maintenance contracts.

Finding a niche is an important step in becoming an IT specialist. In this article, you’ll learn about how to develop your niche.

A Horizontal Niche

Instead of all your ideal clients being in the same industry (a vertical niche), maybe you realize that most of your clients’ main contacts are office managers. What do you do next? Take an informal survey. Ask them what their biggest IT problems are, what their biggest business problems are, and make sure that you’re working towards becoming a solution to those problems.

This will help you retain those clients. But also, more importantly, it’s going to give you a heads up on what the big business issues are and what they see as the biggest IT issues. That’s going to enable you to craft your marketing pitch to go after other clients that are just like them. Begin looking for mailing lists, organizations, magazines, and conferences where you’ll find a lot of office managers.

What IT Specialists Should Know:

For marketing purposes, you need to ask the following kinds of questions about any target market:

o Who are “they”? ____________________________________________________

o What do they read? _________________________________________________

o What trade publications are out there? __________________________________

o What e-zines? ______________________________________________________

o What newsletters do they get? ________________________________________

o What local and regional conferences might they already be attending? ________

o What trade groups have local chapters that they belong to? ________________

o Where do they hang out? ____________________________________________

o What do they talk about? ____________________________________________

o What do they worry about? ___________________________________________

To get the answers to these questions, talk to your best clients… but only if you want to be an IT specialist with more clients just like them.

Chances are you’ve developed personal relationships already. So take your clients out for breakfast; take them out to lunch. Tell them you want to be an IT specialist and ask them your questions so you know exactly where to look for more new clients just like your current ones.

The Bottom Line on Being an IT Specialist

To get more clients in a horizontal niche, you need to find out as much as you can about your clients jobs, where they hang out and how you can find more clients just like them. When you do, you’ve given yourself the distinction of being an IT specialist.

In this article, you’ve learned about becoming an IT specialist. To learn more about being an IT specialist, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Network support contracts are a key way for any business to maintain vigilant security of their networks. In this article, you’ll learn how firewalls are the usual way for specialists to secure your infrastructure as part of network support contracts.

Supporting the Experts Too

Firewall support is critical even for trained technicians who offer network support contracts given the vast number of firewalls that are available today. Even a more experienced consultant who is not familiar with firewalls could require some back up support in the way of network support contracts from time to time. This is where access to online computer help as part of network support contracts becomes invaluable.

What Is A Firewall?

A firewall is a software package that blocks access to personal information or data and can be installed in a one off operation and can be installed and monitored under network support contracts. Most of us have encountered firewalls when using the Internet. This software can be used to protect Internet transactions and to monitor activity in the workplace.

Firewalls Help With Security

It can also be employed to allow remote users access to the network when out of the office. Things can often try to bring down your firewall so that it can penetrate your infrastructure. If this is the case it helps to have network support contracts to monitor these risks.

The Bottom Line about Support Contracts

A firewall along with network support contracts functions as a filter that screens incoming data. To stay ahead of the game, there are several firewall approaches and effective firewall network support contracts are predicated on the experienced of your nominated consultant. Depending on the nature of your problem, the technician who offers you network support contracts maybe required to try a number of different approaches to address the problem successfully.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to support contracts. To learn more about support contracts, click here now to get access to free tips and an audio training excerpt on support contracts.

I was flipping through one of those junk mail advertising circulars that landed in my mailbox a couple days ago, and I noticed a colorful, full-page glossy advertisement on page two. This ad must have cost big bucks. Knowing what I know about advertising costs in my area, this must have been close to a $1,000 outlay (or more).

Avoid Poor Positioning with IT Marketing

But, it was one of the worst ads for positioning that I’ve ever seen. To prevent you from making the same IT marketing mistakes, I’m going to point out a couple of the biggest problems I saw. The headline read: “Computer Repair, I Come to You.” “I Come to You” isn’t a unique benefit anymore. If you’re doing strictly retail, of course it’s a nice benefit that you make house calls. But most computer services firms aren’t just going after retail customers anymore. With B2B, no one is going to lug their 25-node LAN into your shop to have you work on it. So “I come to you” is nothing unique… a totally wasted headline. You just lost your window of opportunity to grab someone’s attention.

Don’t Mention Price in Your IT Marketing

Then the ad went on to say: “Computer Repair A+ and Microsoft Certified Professional, Repairs, Upgrades, One-on-One Lessons and Tutoring”. Once again, nothing unique. These things are just like everyone else in the business. But what caught my eye is half of the ad says in big letters with a color screen behind it: “Don’t pay $40, $60 or $80 an hour for computer repair! Call us!” And then there’s a big retail-looking coupon right next to it that says in big green letters: “$20 an hour, in-home service”. Well, I’d like to congratulate this company. They win Joshua’s idiot of the week award for poor IT marketing.

They’re making every classic mistake there is!

Mistake #1:

They have no target. They’re trying to go after their local slice of seven million small businesses and it’s way too hard to do that. They’re not even narrowing it down to small businesses. They’ll go out and fish someone’s stuck AOL disk out of their CD-ROM drive. They’ll go out and repair a $79 ink jet printer.

Mistake #2:

They’re advertising price. Obviously this isn’t even a price that could be sustainable. Do the math. Even at 75% percent utilization (very unlikely with this advertising strategy), this company is never going to make it. Figure 30 hours a week at $20 an hour. That’s only $600 a week. There is no way this company is going to be in business for the long haul.

Mistake #3:

They are saying nothing unique. This one is very important. What can you do that will help you be unique? You need to narrow down your focus and your specialization.

The Bottom Line about IT Marketing

In this article you learned what mistakes to avoid in IT marketing. To learn more about IT marketing, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Computer maintenance contracts can be complex beasts. If you have ever read the fine print on those computer service contracts so many small businesses give out, you may have noticed you get very little in the way of a warranty. That’s because when it comes to lasting technical work you can count on, not many places carry the credentials necessary to ensure your future success. If you look around though, you will find that there are better safety nets in particular kinds of computer maintenance contracts than others.

Computer Maintenance Contracts: Invest in Your Future

Getting your computer fixed properly via computer maintenance contracts is one of the most important investments you can make in the future of your work. Give the job to a hobbyist without substantive training and you could find yourself the proud owner of a fragile machine. Why take this kind of risk with your beloved machine when outstanding service is available through a team of competent professionals who offer computer maintenance contracts that they are proud to stand behind?

Look For Clients Who Have Signed and Re-Signed

When it comes to getting computer maintenance contracts you can trust, look for a guarantee of perfect function that lasts for months or more. You want a company with a vetted track record of goodwill among repeat customers, businesses and consumer watchdog groups who have signed and even re-signed computer maintenance contracts. Go it alone without computer maintenance contracts and you just might be gambling with the future of your valuable data.

The Bottom Line on Computer Maintenance Contracts

Get the facts and make sure you are protecting yourself with the right kind of computer maintenance contracts. Within the computer maintenance contracts, you want itemized lists and lucid explanations to ensure you are getting exactly what you pay for. With the right help from a reputable firm and a credible computer maintenance contracts, you can have that computer tuned up and humming along again in less than a week.

In this article, you’ve learned about computer maintenance contracts. To learn more about computer maintenance contracts, click here now to get access to free tips and an audio training excerpt on computer maintenance contracts.

If you’ve done a lot of research on computer consulting, you probably have information overload. In this article, you’ll learn what steps to take when first starting your business of computer consulting.

Pick a Date

First, pick a definite date for launching your new computer consulting business and write it down: Launch date is ____/____/____. Why is that important? It gives you something to work towards, a concrete goal at which point you say you know you are starting your computer consulting business. Put the date on your calendar, whether it is six months from today or six weeks from today.

Narrow down your to-do lists and organize your tasks in top 10 priority. Write down everything that’s floating around in your head and then go through that list and pick the 10 most important things.

Possible Top Ten Priorities

Your list might include:

• meeting with an accountant
• getting a business resale license
• opening up a distributor account
• picking a company name
• coming up with a business card
• looking through insurance options
• getting a Web site domain
• getting a business voice mail box

There are probably 30, 40, or even 50 things that are on your list. Narrow that down to the ten that you think are the most important to do before launching.

Order Your List

Once you get those 10, highlight them on paper and try to see if you can rank them in order of some kind of chronological order that makes sense to do. Just work on one or two a week. If you’re a more analytical type and you think you work better on the screen, do this exercise in Microsoft Excel or do it in Microsoft Word. And then narrow your huge list down to your top 10 business priority tasks.

Develop a Timeline to Start Computer Consulting

Let’s say you’re launching your computer consulting business five weeks from now and you’ve got 10 things to do. Pick two things to do each week. It seems a lot more manageable when you put it in terms of that kind of time frame.

The Bottom Line about Computer Consulting

In this article you’ve learned more about how to start planning for your computer consulting business. To learn more about computer consulting, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.

Software service contracts are offered everywhere these days. When you buy a new computer system, software and some sort of support usually comes bundled with it. And if it’s a new PC, chances are good that you’ll get some version of Microsoft Office too. In this article, you’ll learn that if you think you might need some ongoing support with your new computer, then you may want to consider signing up for some software service contracts.

Software For Just About Everything

There are thousands of software titles and accompanying software service contracts available to organize your files, manipulate your photos and animate your creative doodles. Here are some of the most interesting products on offer.

If you have several e-mail addresses, you can manage them more easily with EPrompter. This software can collect mail from up to 16 different accounts and store it in one place for you, while maintaining your separate in and out boxes. Software service contracts are available with this product to ensure you maintain the most up to date version as it is released.

Don’t Be Caught Short – Use Name Brands

Microsoft offers a free add-on under its software service contracts to enhance your PowerPoint presentations. This utility allows you to add a voice track or a video to a static image. For those huge projects spread out over dozens or even hundreds of documents and web pages, global search and replace doesn’t really live up to its name, since you have to run it for each document. Add search and its accompanying software. Service contracts can help you with this.

Replay Radio software acts like a TiVo for radio. You can set it to record specific radio programs or you can choose from their database of more than 200 stations and let it record automatically. Software service contracts, like with EPrompter, are available for this product too.

The Bottom Line about Software Service Contracts

In this article you’ve learned more about Software Service Contracts and how they can protect your software. To learn more about software service contracts, click here now to get access to free tips and an audio training excerpt on software service contracts.

Don’t do it. Why not? You’ll spend a lot of money and a lot of time getting certified and learning all the latest platforms and technologies. But the reality is that hardware repair is a commodity – a low margin business. And it’s becoming more and more of a commodity service every year as the components become more disposable and more replaceable than repairable. In this article, you’ll learn why consulting contracts with national service organizations are not the best choice.

Computers Are Now Replaceable

Let’s take a $600 consumer-grade PC for example. Who’s going to spend money on an out-of-warranty repair on a $600 PC? Who’s going to spend money on an out of warranty repair on a $400 laser printer? How much money are small businesses willing to spend on this kind of repair?

Low Labor Allowances for Consulting Contracts

Since national service organizations are going to primarily be dealing with warranty repairs on relatively inexpensive hardware, how much labor allowance do you think they’re really going to give up on a $1,200 notebook? Many big hardware vendors are so cash strapped that they’re always on the verge of going out of business constantly. Dell, HP, and IBM are pretty much the only major hardware players that are still in reasonably good financial shape (even if you consider IBM in the hardware business anymore).

The Profit Margin on Repairs in Consulting Contracts

So, what are you going to make on a repair? Fifty dollars? A hundred dollars? $150 or $200 at the absolute most? You’re going to do a lot better by finding small businesses in your area that need high-level professional services on a regular basis.

Consulting Contracts with National Service Providers Aren’t Profitable

Acting as a subcontractor for a national service provider is a really hard way to run a consulting business. Do you want to be in eight different offices every single day, or do you want to be in one or two? Do you want to be billing out at $100 or $150 an hour for high-end network support services and network integration services? Or do you want to be told that you’re going to be allowed a $65 labor allowance to replace a system board, no matter how long it takes you?

The Bottom Line about Consulting Contracts

Repairing and troubleshooting hardware is low-end commodity work. It’s work that can be done by people that are billing out at $20 or $30 an hour. It’s not the high-end consulting you could be doing with consulting contracts. Don’t ever confuse the two.

In this article, you’ve learned more about the low profit margins in consulting contracts with national service providers. To learn more about consulting contracts, click here now to get access to free tips and an audio training excerpt on consulting contracts.