acrbo april magazine
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Association of Computer Repair Business Owners magazine.TRANSCRIPT
The Owen Lea Foundation….
Let’s Make A Difference!
Association of Computer Repair Business Owners…Now over
4,000 members!
ACRBO MAG
WHAT’S INSIDE Computers, Networking, Websites, Advertising, Marketing & Sales
ISSUE 015 | Apr 2013
“Success is liking yourself, liking what
you do, and liking how you do
it.” Maya Angelou
Benefits of Market Research
Marketing Basics
Positioning Your Business For Success
Old (MS-DOS) Commands Never Die
Hourly Rate
Keyword Search Strategy
Blogging To Market Your Business
9
14
16
20
23
24
28
Association of Computer Repair Business Owners
CONTENTS
ACRBO
Are you a writer? Do you enjoy writing down your
experiences?
Would you like to be able to contribute each
month regarding your business model and give tips
to other business owners?
If so feel free to contribute to the magazine. Credit
is given to all writers in the form of links to your
website or any other way you would like.
Share your experiences!
Welcome to the latest edition of the
Association Magazine. I'd like to welcome
our new contributors this month.
We look forward to bringing you more articles this coming year that can help you grow your business. Lastly I’d like to congratulate you for investing your time to educate yourself by reading this magazine. We are proud to be able to help all our readers, and look forward to serving you for many years to come.
Dan ACRBO Keep your valuable feedback coming. I try to reply to every email, I appreciate your input as it helps to make the ACRBO magazine possible. Write to me at: [email protected]
ACRBO Magazine Fredericksburg Virginia
Advertising enquires: Send an email to [email protected]
Contribute articles: If you would like to be a contributing author for the magazine then send an email to [email protected] and let us know what you would like to write about. Copyright 2012 ACRBO. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated or converted into machine-readable form or language without the written consent of the publisher. Articles express the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the publisher
ACRBO Magazine
Director: ACRBO [email protected]
Contributors Various experts in their fields
The instructions and advice in the
Magazine is for entertainment purposes only. The creators, producers,
contributors and distributors of the ACRBO Mag disclaim any liability for
loss or lack of results from following the advice expressed herein
Advertise Specials How often should I have specials and advertise them? Sometimes less is better. If you are going to be doing specials on a daily basis then are they really “special”? I try to do them maybe weekly and make them enticing enough that they actually come across as a true special, otherwise people will tend to ignore them. Dan ACRBO
Hourly Wages Read the article this month that covers hourly wages. Dan ACRBO
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ACRBO inbox
ACRBO 6
Have a question? If so email it do
[email protected] and we will be glad to
answer it.
It can be business related pertaiing to
marketing, setting up your business, growth of
your business or anything you can think of.
With 2012 ending the Association has shown that
Do You Market
Your Business Here are just a few things that you should be doing weekly/monthly
Customer Follow-Ups
Newsletters
Social Media Postings
Blogging
Updating Web Site
Are you doing these on a continual basis? If not why?
This month’s winner will receive the eBook “MSPorFail”. We will randomly choose a winner and e-mail the winner. Just send an email to [email protected] and in the Subject line put: WinBook Last Month’s winner is Black-Cat-Computers
ACRBO 8
ACRBO 9
Making your small business venture successful is a difficult but achievable task. You need to look for ways to improve your bottom line profitability, and to market your business in innovative and inexpensive ways to take your small business to new heights. Before spending the first cent on starting a small
business, the first thing to do is conduct market
research. Why? Read on.
Identifies consumer needs: Small businesses tend to have small starting capital and usually a limited geographic consumer focus. A small business usually starts with an idea that grows until a person feels the need to perform this activity as a source of income.
The computer industry is no different. You need to check things in your area. Are there already quite a few computer repair businesses? Are they store fronts or just mobile businesses? What is going to set you apart from them in order to get a customer base?
If you live in the area drive around and see what is there. Or look in the phone books and see who is advertising there. You can even go online and do some searches and see who is coming up in your area you are interested in.
The key is to do your research so you know exactly what you are going to market to.
3. Set Up a Winning Referral Program
Successful marketers develop the ability to turn their customers into advocates. Often, they don't even have to directly ask customers to refer them to others. Their willingness to go the extra wins customer loyalty and support. Naturally, satisfied customers refer their friends and family to the place that will take good care of them.
Quality service and is the first step toward referrals, but you can easily take it one step further. Studies show that every satisfied customer tells three people about you. What would happen with a little incentive added to the picture? Yeah, a lot more. Give customers who refer friends a thank you - whether it's a discount, special gift item, or a simple thank you card - and watch the referrals spiral!
You can get two birds with one stone by implimenting customer surveys. A few quick questions about what the customer does and
3. Set Up a Winning Referral Program
Successful marketers develop the ability to turn their customers into advocates. Often, they don't even have to directly ask customers to refer them to others. Their willingness to go the extra wins customer loyalty and support. Naturally, satisfied customers refer their friends and family to the place that will take good care of them.
Quality service and is the first step toward referrals, but you can easily take it one step further. Studies show that every satisfied customer tells three people about you. What would happen with a little incentive added to the picture? Yeah, a lot more. Give customers who refer friends a thank you - whether it's a discount, special gift item, or a simple thank you card - and watch the referrals spiral!
3. Set Up a Winning Referral Program
Successful marketers develop the ability to turn their customers into advocates. Often, they don't even have to directly ask customers to refer them to others. Their willingness to go the extra wins customer loyalty and support. Naturally, satisfied customers refer their friends and family to the place that will take good care of them.
Quality service and is the first step toward referrals, but you can easily take it one step further. Studies show that every satisfied customer tells three people about you. What would happen with a little incentive
3. Set Up a Winning Referral Program
Successful marketers develop the ability to turn their customers into advocates. Often, they don't even have to directly ask customers to refer them to others. Their willingness to go the extra wins customer loyalty and support. Naturally, satisfied customers refer their friends and family to the place that will take good care of them.
Quality service and is the first step toward referrals, but you can easily take it one step further. Studies show that every satisfied customer tells three people about you. What would happen with a little incentive added to the picture? Yeah, a lot more. Give customers who refer friends a thank you - whether
Narrows the Focus:
Analyzing demographic market analysis helps narrow the customer focus and the business focus. Products sold to universal markets are not usually successful, and conducting market data research will show a small business owner how often people will purchase similar items, people from which demographics purchase those items, how much money they spend and very specific spending habit information. Performing market needs analysis allows a small business owner to concentrate on his available piece of the pie and not spread out too thin trying to meet unnecessary needs of an unfocused market.
To ensure the small
business idea is valid and
worthy of pursuing
financially, do some
market research to find
out if anyone else is
offering the same business
or services.
To ensure the small
business idea is valid and
worthy of pursuing
financially, do some
market research to find
out if anyone else is
offering the same business
or services.
To ensure the small
business idea is valid and
worthy of pursuing
financially, do some
market research to find
out if anyone else is
offering the same business
or services.
To ensure the small
business idea is valid and
worthy of pursuing
financially, do some
market research to find
out if anyone else is
offering the same business
or services.
SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING:
BENEFITS OF MARKET RESEARCH
ACRBO 10
Consumers should constantly know about your company moves. You will
not have to tell individuals about every little product or component you're
transforming, yet if you're making any kind of big changes, your consumers
need to understand. The very same is true with any type of intentions. Allow
your consumers to know where you stand and just what's to come in the
future.
Mobile marketing is a recurring process that's actually tough to regulate
unless you're consistently remaining on top of your game. This suggests that
you must work to supervise your successes and failures with your campaign.
Consistently keep a close eye on what you're doing in advertising.
If you desire to come across as a professional business to clients, you have
to deliver decent prices. You do this by supervising the market. You desire
to deliver prices that are within the market variety, leaving adequate space
to offer up various bargains to convince your customers to purchase from
you.
Consumers should constantly know about your company moves. You will
not have to tell individuals about every little product or component you're
transforming, yet if you're making any kind of big changes, your consumers
need to understand. The very same is true with any type of intentions. Allow
your consumers to know where you stand and just what's to come in the
future.
Mobile marketing is a recurring process that's actually tough to regulate
unless you're consistently remaining on top of your game. This suggests that
you must work to supervise your successes and failures with your campaign.
Consistently keep a close eye on what you're doing in advertising.
If you desire to come across as a professional business to clients, you have
to deliver decent prices. You do this by supervising the market. You desire
to deliver prices that are within the market variety, leaving adequate space
to offer up various bargains to convince your customers to purchase from
you.
ACRBO Deals
View and control remote
PCs from anywhere
without preinstalled
software. Full featured,
up to 10 concurrent
sessions, branded with
your company logo.
Subscription or one-
time prurchase. Easy
for your customers.
Powerful for your
business
Free Trial:
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More Information:
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Contact: 1-888-838-4050/
Have a story
to share with
others about
your computer
business that
might help
them in the
future. Submit
it and we will
publish it in
next month’s
issues right in
this location.
Send to
ACRBO 11
In business time is one commodity that you do not ever have enough of. There will always be enough projects, meetings, loose ends, appointments and more, but never enough time. How to make time for things that you never found time for before.
How to not stress out at the end of each day because you did not finish what you started.
Start Today “Time Is Precious”…www.TimeIsPrecious.info
ACRBO 12
Inside this article we are going to examine what
needs to be implemented to be successful
online. This system is really easy and one that
people don't bother about too much. By telling
you what to search for online, this is going to
be a smart way for you to master how to set up
a small online business.
ACRBO 14
SMALL BUSINESS
MARKETING: BASICS
Marketing is crucial when it comes to gaining the attention of prospective consumers and clients, developing products or service demand and turning those prospective consumers into customers. Marketing has an effect on your sales, pricing, promotions and your advertising strategies. When understand the importance of marketing you can use it to promote the ongoing transition of your services and products to the consumer; this can create success in your small business.
Necessity of a marketing plan:
A marketing plan serves as a roadmap when it comes to your marketing initiatives. It details the success route that you will need to follow to get your small business noticed by potential customers. A detailed marketing plan will show you what to do and help you understand why you are doing it. It will also help you navigate away from the marketing and business mistakes that will cost you money, time and future growth potential. As a small business owner equipped with a marketing plan, you will feel more organized, have more confidence and a clear vision when it comes to your marketing goals. Put in simple terms a marketing plan increases your chance to achieve the business success that you desire.
Strategise wisely:
Marketing a service is different than marketing a product.
There are certain things you need to consider and
different steps you need to take in order to help the
consumer feel comfortable. Learn what you what you
need to do differently in order to market your service
effectively.
Persevere:
It often happens that a small business owner does not
persevere with their marketing plan. This happens for
various reasons and small business owners often give up
too soon. Learn how to persevere with a set marketing
plan and chosen marketing strategies, until it pays off in
the end.
ACRBO marketplace
PC Dice Contact: [email protected] A great gift for that tech you know. Or even better take them on site with you and amaze your customers.
Linux For The Rest Of Us
- Do you want to stay ahead of the computer curve so that you don't feel left in the dust?
- Do you want to expand your knowledge so that YOU are that technician who people go to for advice?
- Do you want to learn an operating system so powerful and fun you'll wonder how you lived without it?
Your Ad here Contact
[email protected] Let Us Know
> Want to see your ad here? Drop us an email.
In small business
marketing, it is very
essential that you define
your “market position”, a
critical step in your
business plan that even
the most successful
companies know they
must do before they
purchase a single ad.
Facebook Passes 1
Billion Users
Milestone Facebook has passed the one billion user milestone
underlining the dominance of the site in the social media
market.
Founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed the
figure in a post on the site on Thursday morning.
"This morning, there are more than one billion people using
Facebook actively each month. If you're reading this: thank
you for giving me and my little team the honor of serving you,"
he said.
"Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by
far the thing I am most proud of in my life.
"I am committed to working every day to make Facebook
better for you, and hopefully together one day we will be able
to connect the rest of the world too."
The firm revealed the figure was officially hit on September
14, and that to date some 219 billion photos have been
uploaded to the site.
The announcement is a significant milestone in the company's
history but comes as it struggles to reignite early fervor
around the firm after a disastrous flotation on the stock
market.
Much of its initial value has been wiped off after the share
price plunged in opening weeks due to concerns around its
mobile performance and rumors of alleged insider knowledge
being given to banks ahead of the launch.
Earlier this year, the firm revealed it had passed 900 million
members, underlining the speed of its growth, although
almost 100 million of the profiles were revealed to be fake in a
later filing by then firm.
Owning and running your own small business
Small Business marketing:
POSITIONING your small business
for success Making your small business venture successful is a difficult but achievable
task
You need to look for ways to improve your bottom line profitability, and to
market your business in innovative and inexpensive ways to take your
small business to new heights
In small business marketing, it is very essential that you define your “market
position”, a critical step in your business plan that even the most successful
companies know they must do before they purchase a single ad.
“POSITIONING” YOUR SMALL BUSINESS FOR SUCCESS
COMMON POSITIONING FACTORS
So how could such a business be positioned to actually mean something in a
crowded marketplace? Well, you could start by leveraging some of the
market positioning factors outlined:
Price – You could scan the market to determine what your
competitors charge and simply charge less, giving you ownership of
the “low-price” position
Level of Service – You could offer more services than the
competition, or you could do the opposite and offer fewer services
allowing you to specialize in certain types of consulting.
Geography – Thanks to the Internet, you could be a consultant to
anyone in the world, or you could choose to offer your services on an
in-person basis within a defined geographic area.
Quality of your Service – What credentials and experience do you
bring to the table that would allow a customer to judge the quality of
your consulting services? Are you better equipped or less equipped
than your competition in this area?
Target Market – Do you have a defined target market for your
product or service? McDonalds was clearly targeting families and the
youth market. Geico.com targets cost conscious consumers who are
willing to accept over the phone service instead of in person service
from their insurance company in exchange for a discount on their
premiums.
The Industry
Site: www.TechNibble.com
Who Is Technibble For?
Technibble is a free resource for Computer Technicians and Computer Business Owners.
Technibble helps computer technicians with information and how-to-articles published a few times
a week and has a strong community of Computer Technicians to help one another.
Technibble helps you by covering topics such as:
- How to start a Computer Business
- Advertising, how to get clients and keep them
- Business and legal issues
- Streamline your computer repair work
- Technician related product reviews and discounts
- New opportunities to look out for
- Stories from “the trenches” from your fellow Computer Techs
Technibble also has a large database of Computer Repair tools and adds a new on to its database
every week.
Be sure to check out the Archives, Computer Repair Tools section and the Computer
Technician forum. .
www.Technibble.com
ACRBO 20
Most computer users today have never seen, or had occasion to use, the Command Prompt. Originally known as the MS-DOS Prompt, this was our only way to communicate with the Operating System and the Directory and File structure before Microsoft Windows® converted us all to the Graphical User Interface.
Most IT Support technicians are at least aware of this arcane, text-based interface and use it on rare occasions. But to effectively deal with today's sophisticated malware, the savvy tech must be intimately familiar with at least a dozen of these commands.
If the GUI of Windows is working properly and you are not restricted in your ability to open a Command window, you will normally do so by entering "cmd" from the Run command or the Search box provided by the Operating System on the infected computer.
In cases of more persistent malware infections, you may need to boot into Safe Mode Command Prompt only. This approach will usually allow most of the basic functionality that may be blocked when the GUI is loaded.
In either case, here is the short list of commands you need to be prepared to use, along with the purpose of each:
Attrib - Used to view and/or change the attributes of a directory or file
Cd or Chdir - Used to navigate through the directory structure
Copy - Copy files and/or folders (directories) from one location to another
Del or Erase - Delete or erase files
Dir - View the contents of a directory
Find - Search for a file or folder by name or partial name
Md or Mkdir - Create a new directory in the current location
More - Allow viewing of on-screen output one page at a time
Rd or Rmdir - Remove a directory
Ren or Rename - Rename a file or folder Set - Displays, sets, or removes DOS
environment variables. Tree - View the structure of a directory Xcopy - Copy files and/or folders from one
location to another; gives you additional options beyond those offered by the Copy command
.
To see a complete list and a brief description of all available commands, you may enter "help" from a Command Prompt. For more detailed information on the options and parameters associated with each command, enter "[command] /?" and they will all be listed.
If you haven't studied the syntax of these commands in a while (or ever), you may want to invest some time in becoming familiar with them before you need them. If you deal with cleaning up malware on a regular basis, it's a safe bet you'll be using these commands frequently.
Bonus research: What's the difference between entering "cmd" or "command" from the Run command or the search box? And why do you need to know? Send your response to [email protected].
Copyright 2013 by Ken Dwight, “The Virus Doctor™,” Houston, Texas. All rights reserved. Ken is a Computer Consultant, Speaker, and Trainer, and creator of the Virus Remediation Training workshop for computer support technicians. For reprint rights, information about upcoming workshops, or to inquire about booking Ken for your next Conference, Convention, or Company Meeting, contact us at www.thevirusdoc.com or phone (281) 537-0252.
Old (MS-DOS)
Commands Never
Die
When it came time to hire a tech I knew we had
expenses and also had a rough idea of our
income (I don’t do the books). But, upon checking
all I did was asked “can I pay a tech $X per
hour”…The smart people who do the books said
yes.
But, it does not take a genius to figure that they
looked at our current income, expenses, etc and
based it off of that.
My issue with businesses looking at hiring a tech
is this…Is there “already” enough income coming
in to handle the added expenses that come with a
tech. If you are going to base it on “If I had a tech
then I could…” philosophy to me that is not a good
route to go….You might just find yourself a month
or so in with no money to cover this additional
tech.
Sometimes you have to spend money to make
money. In the case of a tech I would caution using
this concept.
Base hiring and what you can pay on actual
numbers at the time, not on what you “might
make”.
Make sure your business is solid and there is a
good revenue coming in before taking the hiring of
a tech route.
If you need to raise rates, try to get more business
and everything else just to justify the hiring of a
tech then maybe now is not the time.
Dan
ACRBO.com
I as recently asked this question and figured it might
make for a good article.
“How did you come up with your hourly rate based
on overhead costs and still make a profit? I’m going
to have to hire a new tech full time and I want to
introduce some monthly service programs and don’t
want to take it in the shorts.”
There is no definite answer to this type of question
because there are way too many variables.
Our hourly rate from inception was based on what others
in the area were charging for their service and then
setting a price to our services. Over time this has
changed some due to economy or adding new services.
When we were just a mobile service then obviously
expenses were at a minimum. It was not until we opened
a store front that then you incur added expenses. At that
time you might just have to raise your rates a bit.
Depending on if you are mobile or a storefront some
things to consider are:
Rent
Gas
Electric
Phone
Internet
Insurance
Taxes
etc….
Once you know those things then you might just adjust
your rates a bit more.
Hourly Rate
ACRBO 24
KEYWORD SEARCH STRATEGY: IT'S CRITICAL TO
ANY ONLINE MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Ah, keyword search strategy, the basis of every
single successful website existing today.
Alright, I know that statement sounds rather
extreme but let's check it out.
It's a fact, for marketers who put little to no
research into the keywords they choose, or if they
simply don't understand the importance of
keywords to their marketing campaign and SEO
efforts, then chances are they are not marketing to
their target audience. If you aren't marketing to
your target audience, then you aren't going to get
targeted traffic. If you don't get targeted traffic to
your site then you will not make any sales.
Stop sweating and let me explain why keyword
search strategy is so important.
Let's say 6 months ago you launched a website on
how to build a backyard shed. You have great
original content on your site along with great
photos that shows how to build different back yard
sheds.
The main keywords you've picked are "backyard
sheds" and "building backyard sheds". You have
written tons of articles, built your backlinks and
shared all over the social networking sites, yet
your site still doesn't rank well in the search
engines and you aren't getting a good amount of
daily hits on your site. What happened?
The problem is the keywords. They are not
specific enough and they have a huge amount of
competition. If there are already 160,000,000
websites competing for these keywords, it is going
to take you over a year to begin ranking near the
top for those specific phrases. Not only is the
competition too high for these keywords, but
phrases aren't specific enough.
No matter how detailed the information on your
site is, it isn't going to show how to make all types
of backyard sheds. What specific type of shed do
you have blueprints for? Is it a specific make, a
specific size, a specific shape or made with a
specific material? Getting more specific can
change your keyword from "building backyard
sheds" to "how to build a Panama 471 Shed".
The keyword
search strategy you
need to go by is
determining what
phrases people are
going to use when
searching for your
products or
services that can
solve their
problems.
Now the second example is a very
targeted keyword phrase. Remember
you keyword search strategy is to find
the most targeted keywords with the
least amount of competition.
So often we get caught up in the
numbers and the competition that we
forget that goal is to target a specific
audience. Sure you may eventually get
some traffic targeting the phrase
"building backyard sheds" but most of
those who visit your site will not find
what they are looking for. Also the
keyword is so vague it will take quite a
while before people can even find your
site.
You will also want to remember that
while you do want to build your brand
online, your brand or company name is
not what people are looking for. What
you can offer as a solution to a problem
they have is what they are looking for.
The keyword search strategy you need
to go by is determining what phrases
people are going to use when searching
for your products or services that can
solve their problems. They will search
for "computer repair" or "pc repair" not
"fix virus" or "virus on my computer".
So while it can be very tempting to just
breeze through the keyword selection
processes of internet marketing, I highly
suggest you slow down and spend
some time focusing on finding the best
keywords for your niche. Having the
right keyword search strategy can make
or break your online business.
Good luck and happy keyword hunting!
ACRBO 26
HAVE SOMETHING
TO SAY?
THIS CAN BE YOUR
SPOT EACH AND
EVERY MONTH IN
THE MAGAZINE
INTERESTED?
CONTACT US
ACRBO 28
BLOGGING- THE BEST WAY TO MARKET
YOUR SMALL BUSINESS The whole world is at
your fingertips if you
have the basic know
how of internet.
In today’s world, advertising or marketing is not a challenge any more. May it be small business or a big one
or advertising about oneself, media has opened its doors to the needs of every kind of businessman (and
woman). Internet is now the easiest way by which one can have an access to the homes of every person on
this earth provided he or she must have internet connectivity. It is cheap and extremely user friendly. The
whole world is at your fingertips if you have the basic know how of internet.
Blogging has come up recently in the world of internet that helps one to express his or her feelings about
anything under the sun. This system of blogging can be used to market your small business very effectively.
Write articles about your business or similar kind of businesses and up load them. Create a page related to
your business and regularly update it with new and fresh blogs. There are various sites on the internet that
will help you popularise your webpage and your blogs. Write about any new development or changes that you
want to bring in your services. Ask your viewers to give suggestion regarding it. This will keep viewers
interested in your blog as well as your business.
Next you can also supply free products or services to some of your personally known viewers and ask them
to comment on them. These comments can be uploaded as reviews of the products. This will attract more
and more people. Good reviews will develop an urge among your viewers to buy your products and use them.
Mention the link of this blog or webpage in your facebook account. This whole process is cost effective and
thus appropriate for your small business where capital is the major challenge.
