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Joshua Feinberg Profile and Articles
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51). Computer Service Business: Resources for Recruiting Personnel
You will need to recruit computer service business personnel not only at the start of a business but continuously after that. There are many resources available to those in the computer service business looking to hire employees, and a computer service business manager able to think creatively will attract better candidates. Advertising, referrals, promotions and the Internet are excellent sources for computer service business managers looking for new personnel.
52). PC Hardware: How Ego Can Cost Your Clients
Your clients might be tempted to outfit their top managers and producers with the latest and greatest PC hardware. After all, a CFO or senior account manager has a tremendous amount riding on his or her daily performance and productivity. But they need to consider better ways to spend their money.
What Does Your Client Really Need?
Look carefully at clients’ software application requirements before you allow their "emotional" needs to drive tech PC hardware purchases.
53). IT Consultants: Guide Your Clients Toward Small Business PC Hardware
As IT consultants, you may recall that in the early to mid-‘90s, leading PC vendors began segmenting their product lines into two or three distinct tiers to meet the demands of the different needs of consumers.
IT Consultants Have Different Component Levels to Choose From
As the domestic and global market demand for desktop PCs, notebooks and servers.
54). Networking Terms: Educating the Client
It is very important to educate your small business prospects and clients on key small business networking terms and buzzwords. After all, in order to "win them over," you need to be speaking the same language. In fact, you may even want to prepare a "cheat sheet", based on the below definitions, to help you in your prospect and client pre-sales activities.
55). New Computer Technology - When is enough, enough?
New computer technology comes out continuously. As a computer consultant you probably want to keep up with all the new computer technology that comes along. You're most likely in love with technology - always looking for a new intrusion protection product to play with or another border-gateway protocol. What you have to realize is that your small business clients aren't experimenting with new computer technology and so you shouldn't be wasting your time investigating it.
56). Information Overload - Stop the Barrage
Information overload is a serious problem in computer consulting. As a computer consultant you likely have information about new technology coming at you from all directions. This barrage of information overload is enough to render you unable to figure out what is important and what is not.
Luckily, your clients will mostly be small businesses and they are behind the curve.
57). Business Dress Code - What to Wear While Prospecting
Business dress codes can be tricky to navigate as a consultant. You are going into other people's businesses so your personal business dress code has to appeal to a wide range of clients. This is also true when you are prospecting for future clients.
The business dress code that you use when prospecting will depend on the event. You always want to dress to be your best but you also have to know your audience.
58). Business Growth - Rate Control For Maximum Success
Business growth is something we all want. During startup, however, you have to balance your business growth rate with your ability to keep on top of the business launch. You don't want to get overextended because that will cause you to cut corners and your future success may suffer.
Controlling the rate of business growth is difficult to do especially if you are moonlighting.
59). Time Management Techniques - 10 Great Tips
Time management techniques will be what set you apart from many of your competitors. By employing smart time management techniques you will be more efficient, more effective, and more profitable. Without proper management of time, a lot of hours fall into quicksand and you never get them back.
The essential truism when discussing time management techniques is that time is more valuable than money.
60). Direct Mail Post Cards Compared To Networking
Direct mail post cards are one of the most popular ways to market a computer consulting business. Networking is one of the most effective ways to market. Let's look at how the two marketing techniques compare to one another. You can use this information to decide whether direct mail post cards are right for you.
For the most part, the leads that you get through direct mail post cards are not as high quality as the ones you get through networking.
61). Computer Repair Prices: A Complete Price
Computer repair prices are fixed before you ever start a consulting job. Be sure to think about every aspect of the work you will complete before setting computer repair prices, and that these prices include every expectation of your customer.
The Main Factor Of A Complete Price
There is nothing more irritating than finding a computer or other technology item at the right price only to find out there is something you need that is not included.
62). Computer Data Backups: Test Now or Cry Later
If you’re like most small business owners, your computerdata backups are one of those things that you rarely payattention to. Computer data ba
63). Subcontracting: Why Enter These Relationships?
First, you need to figure out what your in-house techs can handle on their own and then you’re going to need to figure out how to supplement it. As a small consulting firm, you can’t hire someone who’s got five different certifications and pay them their outlandish salaries of $65,000 or $75,000 a year. Instead, start subcontracting work.
Even if you feel that you can afford their rates and keep them busy, that person is not going to want to be unjamming laser printers, hooking up PDAs to desktops and reinstalling Act and QuickBooks all day.
64). IT Spending: Putting a Budget Surplus to Good Use
If you sell to government, non-profit or educational accounts, your firm may be accustomed to managing this next challenge. But, if sales to small businesses are your bread and butter, you may not as tuned into the "use it or lose it" purchasing philosophy in IT spending.
For example, if you’re the science department chairperson for a local school district, and you have a $500,000 budget this year for computer products, you "need" to spend it.
65). IT Consultants: Provide Hardware Selection Services To Your Clients
Over the years, as IT consultants, you’ve probably supported thousands of PC hardware configurations. During this time period, you likely have formulated a strong opinion of what PC hardware specs make for a solid purchase recommendation.
However, in order to properly position your professional expertise, it’s important to be able to convey this hardware selection benefit effectively to clients.
66). IT Service Agreements: Creating the Package
Think about how you're going to package your IT service agreements. For example, are you going to make them fixed- price, retainer-based or based on pre-paid blocks of time?
IT service agreements that are fixed priced are tricky because you have to forecast what people need and want. Most small business computer consultants don't have the skill to accurately predict these needs, because these kinds of predictions are usually better left to actuaries.
67). IT Consulting Rates: What Should You Charge?
Your hourly IT consulting rate potentials will vary according to where you live. The rates in this article will be based in U.S. dollars, so if you're reading this in Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, or another country, you'll need to do some conversions.
These IT consulting rates work well for densely populated suburban areas and major metro areas.
68). IT Consulting: Avoid Freebie Mooching Sessions
In starting an IT consulting business, make sure you avoid extended "freebie mooching sessions" disguised as sales calls. Make sure you’re not there for endless hours of brain-picking that’s leading nowhere.
You need to know exactly which kinds of prospects to focus on at all times. This will drive your qualification process toward the larger sweet spot small business clients.
69). The IT Consultant: Considering the Costs of Downtime
There’s nothing more stressful for IT consultants than getting the dreaded emergency call from a client whose office is "crippled" because of a major systems outage.
If you’ve been an IT consultant a while you know the harsh realities of small business technology adoption. Your clients demand perfection, but don’t have much of a technology budget to invest in fault-tolerance.
70). IT Consulting: Providing Clients with Credit
In running an IT consulting business, do not be too quick to give new clients credit. Even when you give them credit, keep their lines of credit relatively low until they’ve built up some history with you.
Provide Low Lines of Credit
If you have new IT consulting clients, it may make sense to start them out, even if you get a credit application and send out some credit reference letters, with a $500 or $1,000 line of credit.
71). Small Business Consultants: Avoid Clients Using Peer-to-Peer Networks
Very small businesses, those with less than a handful of PCs, often use informal peer-to-peer networks to share files and printers. This is in sharp contrast to a more robust client/server network with a dedicated server computer, and often selected to keep costs to a minimum.
They are generally built around a consumer-oriented operating system, such as Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows ME.
72). IT Consulting: Time Tracking and Invoicing
As a new IT consulting business, it is important to learn about the most common mistakes made with time tracking and invoicing so you can avoid them.
Doing so will put your company in a better overall financial position. You will also be able to sleep better knowing you have greater financial control over your business.
Time Tracking, Billing and Other Issues
Time tracking, billing, invoicing and dealing with credit and collections are big issues in IT consulting.
73). Wireless Ethernet: A Viable Business Opportunity for the IT Consultant
During 2002, many vendors were rushing to market 802.11a (up to 54Mpbs) wireless Ethernet products that were supposed to be the next wave in wireless networking. However, at the same time, an “in-progress” standard called 802.11g may supplant both the original 802.11b and newer 802.11a standards. So frankly, the “safest” bet for now may be to seek out wireless Ethernet hardware that supports all three standards: 802.
74). Networking Terms: Educating Your Clients
It is very important to educate your small business prospects and clients on key small business networking terms and buzzwords. After all, in order to "win them over", you need to be speaking the same language. In fact, you may even want to prepare a "cheat sheet", based on the below definitions, to help you in your prospect and client pre-sales activities.
75). IT Consulting: Steps to a Successful Launch
Before starting your IT consulting business, be prepared. In this article, learn some of the steps you should take before beginning your IT consulting practice.
Step Ten: Start a Simple Contact Database of Everyone You Meet.
Use a package like ACT of Goldmine - don’t reinvent the wheel. Start contacting each person and let them know you are opening your IT consulting business and you would appreciate them keeping their ears open for any referrals.
76). IT Consulting: Moving from Micro Businesses to the Sweet Spot
In IT consulting you have many different options in who you choose as your clients. Larger than the sweet spot businesses are the large small businesses, which provides a different IT consulting opportunity.
Large/Small Businesses Defined
Large/Small Businesses have 5-100 seats, 50-100 computers, anywhere from 50-200 employees and US annual revenue somewhere in the ballpark of 5 million up to 20 million.
77). Small Business Consulting: Overcoming Unrealistic Expectations
If you’re new to small business consulting, you may think there is no such thing as a prospect or client being too enthusiastic about jumping headfirst into a major IT project. Enthusiasm is a good thing when it comes to signing your firm’s small business consulting contract, right? Well, not always.
Manage Clients’ Optimism
Although hype isn’t exactly a sales obstacle, you need to manage client expectations regarding "unjustified" optimism at your earliest opportunity.
78). IT Consulting: More Steps to Success
Before starting your IT consulting business, make sure all your ducks are in a row. In this article, learn some more of the steps you should take before beginning your IT consulting practice.
Step Thirteen. Volunteer if You Can't Get Paying IT Consulting Customers
If 30 days have passed since you let everyone you know you're open for business and you still don't have referrals or paying customers, then take the bull by the horns and volunteer for a non-profit.
79). Small Business Networks: Getting Past Small Business Networking Myopia
Many small businesses mistakenly think that they’re too small to cost-justify a "real" client/server small business network. However, because small businesses want, and in most cases, need, the same technology tools as their larger competitors, deploying a peer-to-peer network doesn’t usually make small business sense (except for the tiniest small offices).
80). Starting an IT Consulting Business: Establishing Partnerships
When starting an IT consulting business, should you already have partnerships established with other companies to provide services that you don’t? The whole problem with running an IT consulting business is that you need to be able to satisfy a lot of needs. However, don’t let that hold you back from getting started.
Know Where Your Expertise Lies
It’s really not that critical to have partnerships in place when you’re getting your IT consulting business started.
81). IT Consulting: The Final Three Steps
These are the final three of the 21 steps you need to take to make your transition from part-timer moonlighting into full-time IT consulting.
Step 19 Never Stop Meeting New People
Attend networking meetings regularly. Keep expanding your IT consulting prospect file even when you’re really, really busy. You're always going to need people in your funnel.
82). Computer Consulting Services: Selling the Network as Security and Data Protection
Small business prospects and clients may view your computer consulting services as part of their insurance policy. You write up a service agreement that lists what’s covered and what’s not, as well as various parameters for coverage. Then each month, quarter, or year you collect some kind of retainer deposit, similar to an insurance premium.
Play Up the Value of your Computer Consulting Services
Part of the reason small business owners never miss a premium is because they want to make sure that your firm will be there in their time of need.
83). Sales Lead Management
Sales lead management is a business activity that tends to be cast aside when the going gets good. When the current revenue stream is flowing great, sales lead management is the farthest thing from people's mind. Unfortunately, when marketing activities are put on hold the likelihood that they need to be used increases.
One of the most dangerous things that happens to professional service businesses when they start generating lots of revenue, is that sales lead management suffers.
84). Work Scheduling and Efficiency
Work scheduling is one of the most time consuming aspects of a consulting business. First you have the issue of work scheduling that goes into your evenings and weekends and then you have to juggle which clients to schedule when and for how long.
When you first start out, work scheduling for evenings and weekends may be a necessity. You have to pay the bills and if that means supplementing 9-5 clients with the occasional evening or weekend job that's ok.
85). Market Penetration - Match Customer Type to Revenue Goals
Market penetration refers to the process of gaining market share by introducing your product to customers. When you are planning your business strategy it is important to consider market penetration issues in terms of your revenue goals. If you need to generate a certain level of revenue, then a market penetration analysis will help you determine the type and number of customers you need to achieve your target.
86). Terms of Sale - Mind Your Own Cashflow
Terms of sale are what will keep you in positive cashflow. As a new business you can't afford to finance other people. You need to keep cash flowing through your business so you have to set clear terms of sale from the start.
Terms of Sale Tips
Don't be too quick to give new clients credit. You can really get taken to the cleaners if your terms of sale include generous credit extension.
87). Overhead Costs - Keep Them To A Minimum
Overhead costs are those expenses that do not vary with your production level. A term that is synonymous with overhead cost is sunk cost. The cost of the item or service is sunk regardless of whether you generate any income or not. You need to pay for electricity and basic phone service and these costs do not go up as you bill more hours.
Because these overhead costs are spent right from day one, it is wise to try to minimize your totals.
88). Commercial Office Space - Don't Waste Your Money
Commercial office space is unnecessary when you first start out in computer consulting. Unless you have a very compelling reason for renting commercial office space, save your money. You're much better plowing that money back into marketing and promotional expenses.
Even a tiny commercial office space is going to be $400 - $600 a month. A low traffic retail store is even more; at least a $1000-$2000 per month.
89). Business Groups - Market For Maximum Effectiveness
Business groups like the Chamber of Commerce provide many excellent marketing opportunities. The members of these types of business groups are all business owners and many of them will fit into your sweet-spot profile. What better way to get to know the decision makers in these businesses?
Maximize Your Exposure in Business Groups
Don't simply join a business group and remain a passive bystander.
90). Flash Web Pages - Overkill for Computer Consulting
Flash web pages might look cool but they are an ineffective way to use your website. For most start ups we find they waste a ton of time and money putting together a mega website. Computer consultants design flash web pages because they can and because they think their site needs to be like Yahoo or Amazon or something like that. They don't need to be and here's why:
Three Reasons Not To Use Flash Web Pages
The reality is, your website is not that important of a marketing tool.
91). Performance Metrics - Measure Your Networking Effectiveness
Performance metrics in the area of networking are those measurements that will tell you whether your efforts are resulting in business. Networking and relationship marketing are time intensive so you want to spend that time wisely. Performance metrics are the keys to this analysis.
Your networking should include a variety of business organizations.
92). Performance Metrics - Create a PNL Statement for Analysis
Performance metrics need to be tracked diligently. This is never more the case than with networking activities. Many computer consultants know they should be tracking specific performance metrics but fail to have a system to actually do so.
A Profit and Loss type method for tracking performance metrics works quite nicely. By setting up a PNL statement you can use your defined performance metrics to track and measure the performance payback from each of the organizations you get involved with.
93). Training Seminar Tips and Tricks For Solutions Providers Part 1
Training seminars are a marketing strategy that every Solutions Provider should seriously consider. The opportunity to increase your trust and credibility factors with training seminars is one not to be ignored. The following are some tips and tricks to help you sponsor the most successful training seminars possible.
Remember that your training seminar is a marketing tool not simply a goodwill gesture.
94). Business Image - Use Yours To Raise Your Credibility
Business images are formed with or without your express consideration. You may have the best intentions regarding your business image but if you choose the wrong marketing strategy the business image you project might be all wrong.
Your business image should be one of professionalism and credibility. This is the type of business image your sweet spot clients are looking for in IT service providers.
95). Sales Processes - Using a Two-Step Process for Direct Mail
Sales processes vary depending on the type of marketing you are doing. Many computer resellers use direct mail advertising as part of their marketing strategy. The sales process that is critical in this type of campaign is the two-step sales process.
What is a Two-Step Sales Process?
A two step sales process is based on the premise that you are not going to close a $10,000 client from a direct mail postcard.
96). Media Publicity - Get Your Name Out There
Media publicity is a great way to build your professional profile and credibility. Get interviewed, get featured, get quoted, or somehow get into the local newspaper or business journal and use this media publicity to your advantage.
Use the media publicity you have generated when you create your business collateral. You will get more mileage out of your media publicity this way than simply relying on people to see it in print or on TV, or hear it on the radio.
97). IT Audits: How to Use Current Events
Worms and viruses can actually help you market your services, and in particular your IT audits. As soon as you hear about them in the news, you can expect that many of the small businesses you work with will encounter problems with them.
Events like worms and viruses unfortunately for companies quickly make companies aware of the importance of power protection, orderly shutdowns and backup generators.
98). IT Consultants Go to Customers
Because as an IT consultant you are very dependent upon repeat business, you cannot afford to wait for business to come to you. You have to approach your customers by offering them reminders of upcoming scheduled services or help them by going to the point of use for delivery of goods or services.
Reminders
Your clients will find reminders to be very valuable resources.
99). Computer Franchises: Preparing for a Franchise Expo
You can find computer franchises by going to franchise expositions, but you have to prepare for them in order to minimize being overwhelmed by the options and narrow down your search. Since exhibitors go to these expos in order to sell their franchise, you need to prepare to know exactly how to find a franchise that will fit your needs and abilities.
100). Computer Repair Services: Four Steps to Customer Decisions
When deciding to go with your computer repair services, a customer cycles through four steps: awareness; interest; evaluation; adoption. The strategies you use at each phase will encourage the prospect to take the steps to the end.
Step One: Awareness
Prospects you encounter might know about your computer repair services, but might not know much information about them beyond that.
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