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1). Overcoming Small Business Networks Sales Objections Do you need help overcoming sales objections? Do you sell computer networks, or other IT-related products and services to small businesses? This article provides tips and hints so you can be overcoming the most common sales objections heard when selling networks to small business prospects, customers, and clients. ... 2). Computer Consulting Profit Secrets Do you own or manage a computer consulting company? Are you having trouble growing your computer consulting company's profits? If so, then you must learn how to focus on your computer consulting firm's profit and bottom line. In this article, we'll look at 7 profit secrets and strategies you can use in your computer consu... 3). IT Marketing: Successful Seminars An important part of your IT marketing is seminars. In this article you’ll learn how to get the most of the seminars you hold. IT Marketing: Registration is Very Important Most seminars that you offer should be free, but to make these IT marketing events successful, always require registration because you have limited sea... 4). Computer Consulting: How Do You Find Sweet Spot Clients? Where do you find clients that are going to spend $1,000 to $2,000 a month on IT computer consulting services on an outsourced basis? You need to evaluate each client. Are they big enough to need a real server, a real firewall a real backup solution and offsite or online backup? Do they need to emphasize security, power pr... 5). IT Service Contracts: Practice Makes Perfect What happens after you have your IT service contracts? Are you scared that your customers are going to stump you or you won’t be able to provide the response time you promised? IT Service Contracts: Confidence Comes with Experience Just start offering and selling your services. Go slowly until you build up that confidenc... 6). How a Computer Consulting Business Can Help Your Company While many small companies only call in a local computer consulting business when something computer-related breaks, there's a lot to be gained by forging a proactive, long-term relationship with a local computer consulting business in your area. Consider Getting Advice from a Computer Consulting Business If you need to ge... 7). IT Sales Calls: Getting Past the Gatekeeper IT sales calls require connecting with the right person in order to be successful. However, getting past the gatekeepers is no easy feat. In this article, you'll learn some techniques to help get you in touch with the person you need to for your IT sales calls. IT Sales Cold Calls are Difficult How do you get past the sec... 8). How to Become a Computer Consultant Have you ever wanted to become a computer consultant, but you weren’t sure if you could cut it? Do you have a basic understanding of computer-systems, 9). Consulting Firms: Should You Be a Product Reseller? In this article, we'll explore the two schools of thought on whether computer consulting firms should resell products. Pure Computer Consulting Firms Defined Some consulting firms want to be pure consulting firms. They believe that they are never going to make a penny off product margin and that there are potential confli... 10). IT Audits: A Checklist IT audits need to be as comprehensive as possible. To ensure you hit every area you need to during your IT audits, review this checklist. • IT Audits - Physical Security: To ensure that appropriate physical controls are in place to secure technology assets (servers, networking and telecommunications equipment) preventing unauth... 11). IT Audits: How to Price Them How do you go about pricing IT audits? In this article, you'll learn that it should be based on your rate, but you will also want to give a discount to get your foot in the door. Use Your Hourly Rate as a Guide For IT audits, you’re going to have to take your hourly billing rate, and figure that you’re going to spend two ... 12). IT Marketing Sales Copy That Delivers IT marketing requires effective copywriting in order to get your prospects to the next step. In this article, you'll learn some tips on how to maximize the impact of your IT marketing materials. Long sales copy is fine if you're writing a letter as long as it's a compelling read. In fact, you can go on for several pages. Also include ... 13). IT Service Agreements: Identify Your Terms IT service agreements require advance planning to inspire confidence in your customers. You need to know what benefits and prices you will offer to your customers ahead of time. This will be your compelling case for why your future clients need to be on IT service agreements. Make a Rate Card A rate card is a simple one-pa... 14). Computer Consulting: The Initial Consultation You have to think of the sales process as more of like a pre-sales consultation and with an emphasis on consultation. You really want to convey your professionalism and stand out from the other computer consulting "professionals" out there who want to act like used car salespeople. In this article, you'll learn that this can be done b... 15). Computer Consultants: The Benefits of Self-Employment Working as computer consultants for small businesses can be very financially rewarding and very gratifying. In this article you'll learn about some of the benefits you'll realize as computer consultants. You Can Pick Your Work As computer consultants, you have so much flexibility that you're not likely to get bored. You c... 16). Computer Consulting 101 Hiring Tips (Part 1 of 2) Does your business need the services of a computer consulting firm? Before you rush out and hire the first techie or slick-salesperson that knocks on 17). IT Service: Handling Prepaid Blocks of Time The prepaid block of time is different from the service agreement. The IT service agreement is specific about the kinds of things you will do – maintenance, upgrades, etc. The prepaid block of time is simply that – time. For example, the customer recognizes that your normal hourly rate is $100 an hour. In return for prepaying 20 hours... 18). Computer Consulting Training: Should you get this or clients first? A big question when starting out is comparable to the chicken and the egg dilemma. Do you get computer consulting training first and then look for clients? Or do you look for clients and then get the relevant training. In this article, you'll learn why it's best to do them both at the same time. How About Both? When guid... 19). Computer Consulting: Take Some Action Before you open the doors to your computer consulting business, you need to get your ducks in a row. You'll need to pick a company name and get your business cards printed. Then you'll need to consider what types of customers you want to pursue and where you can meet them. In this article, you'll learn how and why you need to accomplish these steps... 20). Computer Consulting and Virtual IT Do you own or manage a computer consulting company? Would you like to achieve greater small business success? If so, then get r 21). Partnering: Finding Your Strengths and Weaknesses In partnering, the first thing you need to do is figure out your strengths. What it is that you do best? What does your store enjoy? What’s financially viable? What you’re planning on doing for the next six months to a year? You really want to make sure that you’re not partnering with someone that’s going to be a direct competitor of yours and vice... 22). IT Marketing: A Case Study 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 P... 23). IT Sales: Put Your Best Foot Forward Prior to making the first IT sales call to your client, you need to prepare for it. In this article you'll learn how to get ready for meeting with a client for the first time. IT Sales: Do Your Homework Before you even arrive at your first IT sales call with a client, make sure you've done your homework. If the prospectiv... 24). IT Sales: Move them From Free to Fee When you are in the process of your initial IT sales consultation, it is likely that you will be asked to take a look at something while you are there, For example, they may say, "We've been having a problem with this router. Could you just take a look at it please?" Don't Risk Doing More Harm What should you do? If it onl... 25). Consulting Contracts with National Service Organizations- Good idea? 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 ... 26). IT Marketing: Finding Prospect Lists After you write your long sales letter, you need to know who to send it to. In this article, you'll learn where to find an advertising list and trade organization listings to help with your IT marketing efforts. Advertising Lists For list selection, you have many choices. If you're looking for recommendations, especially i... 27). Computer Consulting Time Constraints Where can you find time to do it all? How can you devote time to finding long-term B2B computer consulting clients when you're already working 60, 70, 80 hours a week? There's no easy answer. In this article, you'll learn some possible options for finding long term clients in computer consulting. Do a Time Study Really lo... 28). Computer Consulting: Should You Moonlight While Starting Up? A tremendous number of people are able to earn sizable supplemental income by having a moonlighting computer consulting business. But even more importantly, by moonlighting, you can figure out if you enjoy computer consulting before you take the plunge into building a full-time computer consulting business. Learn True Billable Hours 29). IT Marketing: Benefits Focused Sales Letter No matter what niche you're in, you should write a benefits-focused sales letter. In this article you'll learn how this letter can improve your IT marketing. Your high school English teacher probably told you that when you're writing a business letter, keep it nice and short and sweet. Put that advice away. (Your high school English te... 30). 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 31). Computer skills: Which ones do your competitors have? Computer skills are important for your virtual IT business. But with so many possible skills, which ones do you really need in your business? In this article, we'll address which computer skills your competitors may have so you know what you're up against. Necessary Networking Platforms Most of your competitors who are doi... 32). IT Marketing: Direct Mail Tips Regardless of whether you're doing a letter, a flyer mailer, a big oversized postcard, or a standard-sized postcard, make sure that your headline hits them right between the eyes. Your message must do the same thing. In this article, you'll learn that you have to know what's causing your potential clients pain. You have to know what their deepest d... 33). Computer Consulting: Which Business Is Right for You? Some people decide they want to open up an independent doughnut shop instead of buying into one of the really large doughnut shop companies. If you want to make submarine sandwiches, you can do it on your own or you can buy into one of the big, extremely well known franchises. If you want to start a computer consulting business, you can be independ... 34). IT Marketing: Finding Your First Clients Once you have some clients under your belt, IT marketing becomes easier. In this article, you'll learn the best ways to find the crucial few first clients to help your IT marketing. Here are the steps to this point: o You want to pick a startup date. o You want to print your business cards. o You want to tell everyone tha... 35). Computer Consulting Businesses: What Your "Sweet Spot" Clients Are Looking For, Part One When providing B2B service, computer consulting businesses' ideal clients, or “sweet spot,” are companies with 10-50 PCs and 1-10 million in revenue. These “sweet spot” small businesses typically look for four things in their computer consulting businesses. 1. Response Time 2. Knowledge (Business and Technical) 3. Customer Servic... 36). IT Marketing: Find the Decision Makers The best way to grow beyond your customer base is to do some more IT marketing by getting out there in the community and meeting other people that are the decision makers. The key thing is to find the people that are most likely to be your decision makers. In this article, you'll learn how to connect with decision makers for your IT marketing effor... 37). Computer Skills: Which Ones Your Staff Needs Don't worry too much if you lack advanced technical computer skills. A lot of that can be remedied by just putting in a little bit of time each week in doing some self-study. In this article, you'll learn which computer skills are necessary to serve your sweet spot small business clients. If It Works, Break It You can do somethi... 38). IT Sales: It's about Relationships and Benefits IT Sales aren't automatic--you have to put in the time and effort to make the sale. In this article you will learn that showing your clients the benefit of your services and developing a relationship with them will help your IT sales. What Benefit Can You Give Them? If your prospect has an IT problem you can't solve, the... 39). Computer Consulting 101 PC Troubleshooting Advice While most small businesses really do need to find a good local computer consulting business to take care of their computer problems, there are some computer problems that are simple enough for even a technophobe to handle. At Computer Consulting 101, we've found there's one very simple piece of advice that often doesn't get communicated to non-tec... 40). IT Marketing: Establishing Credibility How do you best establish credibility if you only have a couple of references and you're just getting started in the consulting businesses? This article will show you how to maximize the effect of the references you have and to get new ones. For starters, make sure those references are as strong as possible and that you get them in wr... 41). More Computer Consulting 101 Hiring Tips (Part 2 of 2) Does your company need to retain the services of a competent computer consulting firm, but you have no idea how to really evaluate “competence”? In the first part of this two-part series on Computer Consulting 101 hiring tips, we looked at why small businesses find it so difficult to hire good computer consulting companies, as well as... 42). IT Specialist - Information Gathering is a Must IT Specialists must reach their intended audience to be successful with their marketing. As you'll learn in this article, your first step needs to be gathering information about your niche. IT Specialists Should Study What their Niche Clients Do For instance, to reach small medical offices, get up to speed on the business ... 43). Computer Consulting: Finding Prospects Among Your Leads How do you narrow down your leads and find your prospects? In this article, you'll learn some criteria that will help you narrow down your computer consulting leads and take them to the next step. One is finding your industry focus. You must laser beam your target market. You need to stand out tremendously from the crowd because every... 44). IT Emergencies: How To Plan For Them In a perfect world, there should be no IT emergencies, but it doesn’t work that way. Handling IT emergencies are critical to maintaining your customer base and a great opportunity to acquire new business. You cannot afford to staff up to every peak, nor can you afford to fail to meet the needs of an existing client. Don't Overschedule... 45). IT Certifications: Are They Important? Most of your sweet spot small business clients are just starting to gain awareness of the value of certifications. But most sweet spot clients don't know enough about IT to appreciate and pay for the differences in different levels of certification. In this article, you'll learn what your clients are looking for with your IT certifications. 46). IT Audits: Capitalizing on Current Events Worms and viruses are actually a good thing for your marketing. When they are mentioned in the news, there’s an excellent chance that the small businesses that you’re targeting are feeling the pain and feeling the pinch. There’s nothing like a massive blackout to raise tremendous awareness! Events like these raise awareness of the need... 47). Computer Consulting: Weeding Out Time Wasters When you’re in the computer consulting business, you’re selling your personality, you’re selling your charisma, and you’re certainly selling your business knowledge. Most specifically, however, at the end of the day, you are selling your time. You can’t afford to waste it. You need to be able to account for every hour that you spend, regardless of ... 48). IT Service Agreements: Living Up to Your Promises If you are new to the service model, you may be concerned about your ability to live up to your IT service agreements. Let’s assume that you have eight clients who will book $165,000 in yearly revenue. The greatest fear for many new consultants is getting significant IT service agreements and not being able to support their clients in the short-ter... 49). Partnering Beyond Other Technicians In partnering, don't just look for people you can bring in on accounts. A lot of times other non-IT business providers like management consultants are in a position where they’re constantly being forced to be able to refer other professionals to their clients. This may be done as a favor to their client, or set up as a revenue sharing arrangement. ... 50). IT Service Contracts: Recurring Revenue is Absolutely Critical One-shot deals are for amateurs. The pros insist on IT service contracts. Otherwise you’re going to have a whole bunch of people that call you once or twice a year and in the meantime, you’re sitting by the phone waiting for it to ring. You’re doing nothing proactive. They’re taking none of your advice. They’re doing no long-term fixe... Browse Pages: 1 [2] [3]