http://www.articlealley.com en-us editorial@articlealley.com When starting up a business, you may be overwhelmed by all the things that need to be done to get you off on the right foot. From setting up your computer, protecting it, setting up a method to take (and give) payments, your website, learning accounting s... http://www.articlealley.com/http://patplank.articlealley.com/how-to-avoid-time-wasters-in-small-business-computer-consulting-866364.html 22nd April 2009 The IT sales call should be mainly about making sure your prospect is well-suited for and in need of your services. If you don't use this call for that purpose, you can waste time with a prospect that does not actually want to hire you, rather simply wan... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-sales--beyond-the-initial-call-100126.html 15th November 2006 Follow up, as we said last time, is a critical component of your marketing system. You need to stay in touch with your contacts. The tricky part is making sure your follow up doesn't cross over into pestering. This is where creative follow up comes in.... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/follow-up-tips-for-computer-services-part-2-91682.html 03rd October 2006 Sales pipelines are an important concept in business marketing. At any one point you will have different people in different phases of the buying process: your sales pipeline. How you market to these people varies. When you know who, and how many, you... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/sales-pipeline--know-where-your-contacts-are-at-91304.html 03rd October 2006 Starting a new business is difficult. Customers don't typically come calling on you right away. Everyone starts somewhere and not all of your first clients will be long term, sweet spot clients. Starting a new business means you don't have your bus... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/starting-a-new-business-in-it-and-getting-clients-89283.html 27th September 2006 Customer service is a crucial part of the computer service repair business, because computer service repair is about working with customers to solve problems. All aspects of computer repair should be focused on the customer and his problem. There are th... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/computer-service-repair-business-and-providing-customer-service-during-all-aspects-of-a-sale-84772.html 31st August 2006 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 w... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-audits--how-to-use-current-events-83797.html 21st August 2006 IT emergencies are inevitabilities in today's technological world. Handling them will be critical to your IT business and maintaining a strong and loyal customer base. You have to achieve a delicate staff balance that allows you to meet the needs of exi... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/how-to-plan-for-it-emergencies-83156.html 21st August 2006 Payroll management is an issue that is never too early to start considering. Obviously, in the early stages of your business, your payroll management will consist of paying yourself. As your business grows you will have to concern yourself with compensa... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/payroll-management--start-planning-now-74870.html 22nd July 2006 Marketing tests are an important component of your overall marketing strategy. When you first start out you will be on shoe string budget. You need to save money everywhere. Marketing tests will help you determine whether you should spend a large part ... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/marketing-tests--sample-before-you-commit-74869.html 22nd July 2006 Unique selling proposition is a marketing concept that refers to the one element that sets a firm apart form its competition. Your unique selling proposition is what differentiates you in the market place . Every business needs to have a unique selling ... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/unique-selling-proposition--whats-yours-73141.html 17th July 2006 Contingency plans are absolutely critical for first year business success. A contingency plan is what will help you deal with the curve balls that get thrown at you. Despite your best research and planning, you will encounter surprises: good and bad. ... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/contingency-plans--can-you-handle-curve-balls-72701.html 16th July 2006 Business support systems are critical to your business success. The most important business support system is your family. The spousal relationship is particularly key to your ability to launch and operate a successful business. If your spouse or sig... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/business-support-systems--your-family-is-key-68977.html 01st July 2006 Potential clients need to be evaluated for their ability to become steady clients. It's ok to pick up clients who you will see once or twice a year. When you are starting out, however, you need to build up a clientele of steady customers. These steady c... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/potential-clients--evaluation-criteria-67840.html 28th June 2006 In dealing with apathy toward small business networking, discontinued technical support is another powerful counterforce, especially when you're talking about vertical, industry-specific software, such as niche applications designed for accountants, attor... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/small-business-networking-overcoming-more-client-objections-67387.html 27th June 2006 Since the vast majority of small business prospects and clients that you encounter will likely be running some version of Microsoft Windows, it is a good idea to educate small business managers on the differences between the "current" versions of Microsof... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/small-business-networks-are-your-clients-using-the-right-tools-66700.html 25th June 2006 There are some clues that will tell you if a prospect will make a good sweet spot client for your IT consulting business. In this article, learn some of the tip-offs that a prospect is a good fit. Does the Company Have a Website? A prospect's webs... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-consulting-search-for-sweet-spot-clients-62648.html 12th June 2006 A successful IT consulting business should be focused on selling your consulting services and not selling products. At this stage of the game of starting an IT consulting business, you should not be looking to be a dealer for someone or an authorized sol... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-consulting-sell-services-not-products-62425.html 12th June 2006 If you're about to start recommending that your clients buy extended service plans for new notebook PCs, be sure to get a written statement detailing what's included and not included. Unfortunately, PC vendors won't always tell you specifically what's ... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/notebook-pcs-warranty-enhancements-62211.html 10th June 2006 As a new small business computer consulting firm, you might ask what level of technical staff you can put on payroll. Don't get too excited yet; you have to be realistic about this. Of course, it varies by job market, but all things being equal, what ... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/small-business-computer-consulting-can-you-hire-help-61402.html 08th June 2006 Big small businesses get their IT support, from an internal IT person, or a small IT department. Remember, a big/small business typically has 50 to 100 PCs doing anywhere from 5 million to 20 million dollars in U.S. annual revenue. IT Support Sources f... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-support-where-do-larger-small-and-medium-sized-businesses-get-it-61271.html 08th June 2006 In small business computer consulting, it can be easy to get yourself into money trouble really fast. Conserve your precious capital by avoiding some of the common mistakes when marketing your small business computer consulting firm. Perform Tests W... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/small-business-computer-consulting-smart-marketing-60863.html 07th June 2006 Getting various hardware components factory-installed with PC purchases, like CD-RW drives and network cards, can save your clients on initial purchase and installation costs. At first, it may seem counterintuitive to recommend this strategy of PC purc... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/pc-purchases-why-bundled-hardware-components-make-sense-for-your-clients-59666.html 04th June 2006 Network cards are mandatory additions to PC purchases now that even the smallest offices now have broadband Internet access and peer-to-peer networking. Even if the cost of later purchasing Ethernet adapters a la carte were the same as the bundled pri... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/pc-purchases-the-benefits-of-adding-network-cards-58790.html 01st June 2006 To be successful in IT consulting, you need to know about servers, hardware, and software, but more importantly, you need to know business skills. Learn How to Say "No" Anyone in IT consulting can tell you that, at first, you are going to get a lot... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-consulting-you-need-more-than-just-technical-skills-57620.html 26th May 2006 In the sweet spot of small business IT consulting, you will be taking over anything and everything related to IT. You are expected to know a little about a lot of different things, but most of all, you are expected to be very resourceful and to know where... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-consulting-why-the-sweet-spot-makes-sense-57619.html 26th May 2006 Sure, you need technical skills. But to be a successful IT consultant, you also need to be able to work well with people. In this article, you'll learn about some of the personality traits that make for a successful IT consultant. IT Consultant Traits... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-consultant-do-you-have-these-personality-traits-56994.html 26th May 2006 If you are starting a small business computer consulting firm, you should know that the small business accounts that have 10 to 50 PC's are going to have at least one branch office. Prospects of this size are used to using professional technology provi... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/small-business-computer-consulting-finding-the-right-prospects-56831.html 26th May 2006 Small business IT consulting professionals can choose to market themselves to "sweet spot small businesses". These small businesses are where you start to see small business IT consultants breaking through that $100 an hour barrier. This is where you st... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/small-business-it-consulting-targeting-the-sweet-spot-54459.html 20th May 2006 Partnering is really the only way that you can do virtual IT the right way in small business computer consulting. It provides three extremely compelling benefits. Partnering Advantage #1: You Can Broaden Your Bench You can broaden the skills you o... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/partnering-how-it-benefits-your-computer-consulting-practice-50502.html 07th May 2006 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... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-service-agreements-living-up-to-your-promises-50356.html 05th May 2006 When you first meet with IT sales prospects, you'll want to get them talking about their top 3 problems. You may learn that the problems your prospects have aren't ones you or your network of partners or subcontractors can help with. In this case, you are... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-sales-determine-your-clients-needs-48058.html 27th April 2006 IT sales calls can be handled with ease if you prepare adequately ahead of time. First, do your background research and get a sense of the urgency of the situation. Then you will be able to increase your odds of closing IT sales by finding out what your c... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-sales-handling-the-initial-call-46554.html 25th April 2006 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. ... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-marketing-finding-your-first-clients-45237.html 20th April 2006 Elevator pitches are effective, quick ways of practicing your IT marketing daily. They key is to say something memorable and quick, and to use it whenever appropriate. In this article, you learn how to make your elevator speech stand out for effective IT ... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/it-marketing-using-your-elevator-pitch-43248.html 12th April 2006 You can approach the decision whether or not to buy a franchise in many different ways. There are many pros and many cons with franchise organizations. In this article, we'll explore the pros and cons with franchise organizations in computer consulting. ... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/computer-consulting-should-you-buy-a-franchise-36384.html 15th March 2006 Even if you are just starting out your computer consulting practice with rather basic desktop support level technical skills, make sure that your computer consulting firm gets some paying clients who are at your current technical skills comfort level. In ... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/computer-consulting-find-paying-clients-during-startup-35995.html 14th March 2006 To find the ideal clientele for your small business computer consulting, you want to target small businesses by their number of PC's, (10 to 50) as well as their revenue. Generally, companies that have anywhere from 1 million to 10 million in revenue are ... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/small-business-computer-consulting-additional-qualifications-for-the-sweet-spot-32683.html 05th March 2006 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 businesse... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/computer-consulting-businesses-what-your-quotsweet-spotquot-clients-are-looking-for-part-o-32564.html 05th March 2006 If you've been in the small business computer consulting industry for more than 10 minutes, you've probably already encountered a fair amount of freeloaders. Regardless of whether you call these folks moochers, tightwads, cheapskates, tire-kickers, che... http://www.articlealley.com/http://computerconsultingki.articlealley.com/small-business-computer-consulting-freeloaders-and-how-to-avoid-them-23925.html 14th January 2006