Help a lazy fucker get his business off the ground.

[nath]

So recently I've started doing freelance home IT support. I've got a few loyal clients but it's not enough to keep me going. I've leafleting the local area and posting a few ads here and there on gumtree.com but I need to do more. Figured some of you lot might have an idea as to what I can do to generate a bit more business. I've got a site, I've got references, I've even got a Guardian article written about me when I was working for my previous company - I just need to get it out there. I figure there's a load of other sites out there like gumtree, I just need to find them.

Any help/advice appreciated!

 

[Chilly]

target your adverts in places you think might see a lot of potential custom, and make a big deal of the fact that you are not pc world and wont charge a flat rate to do anything including plugging a cable in.

 

[Tom]

Ask your clients if they wouldn't mind putting your name about.

In lots of businesses, its not 'what you know' its 'who you know'. Most people in my business get work from other people, not advertising. Its probably the same in your line of work.

 

[nath]

Oh yeah most of my clients are more than happy to recommend me when their friends are in need of an IT bod. Problem is, this doesn't happen often. I just need a way to get a few more clients through advertising then those clients will generate more clients (hopefully) etc etc.

 

[Frizz]

You could advertise in Yell?

 

[dysfunction]

Or put adverts in a few of the local Newspapers...

 

[Guest]

PC Home Help - Computer Repairs and PC Repair


i've joined

 

[Ono]

What does home IT support actually do?

Do you go round to people's houses and show them how to use their PC?

 

[Clown]

I've got a few loyal clients

Why do you keep having to fix them?

 

[nath]

yell.com and pc homehelp, I'll see about getting on them. Cheers Frizz/Brooky.

Ono - I cover a range of things, my clients tend to be people who don't have the time/inclination to find out how to fix their computer problem and so want to hire someone out. Most common thing is wireless network setup/problem fixes but also I often have to sort out viruses, sort out backup routines and general system MOT's. Usually nothing especially complicated but <ego>what sets me apart from the rest is the ability to speak english, not bullshit and I'm very good at explaining the problem and the solution in a way that lets the customer understand and prevent things going wrong again - regardless of how inept with a pc they are</ego>.

Anyhoo, I just need a large enough client base as the problem with not being a cowboy is that when I fix things, they stay fixed :\

 

[Tom]

Sell an annual maintenance contract to your existing clients? An annual checkup sort of thing?

 

[Paradroid]

Nath, you've missed the complete obvious. Sex, sells. Get a few topless photos of yourself out there, do a calendar.

Or tap into the pervy-dad market, to "clean their machine", so to speak (ahem). You could do the bj gif banner with IT Support as the money shot. Become a pimp and get lots of hot slutz to go round and actually service these guys for tons of hard cash. No, wait, that's illegal.




Got any promos so we can study your brand?

 

[Guest]

Nath, i do the exact same sort of thing for friends and friends of friends, mostly on a weekend, take this weekend i have 5 people to see, last week there were 3 so i keep pretty busy, whatever the persons problem i also look give the pc a healthcheck.

I have a usb stick with avg anti spyware avg anti virus and some symantec tools for detecting worms/trojans etc plus a decent DOS defrag program (JK Defrag)

I also have a copy of Firefox and i always uninstall all the shite toolbars that the people normally have.

i am sure you do the same. Good luck.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Simple poster campaign: Employ me or I kill kittens.

 

[xane]

Can you deviate from home clients, perhaps small businesses that are not part of a big chain, what about local schools or doctors, dentists, etc ?

I'm impressed you are getting this business model working, I was considering doing the same a few years back but couldn't figure what to charge.

 

[nath]

Can you deviate from home clients, perhaps small businesses that are not part of a big chain, what about local schools or doctors, dentists, etc ?

I'm impressed you are getting this business model working, I was considering doing the same a few years back but couldn't figure what to charge.

Well lets not get ahead of ourselves, I've not got it working just yet - I've just got a few dedicated clients but not enough to make a living.

Primarily I'm home users, but any small business are fine too. Anything that resembles a home network I'm happy to deal with. I'm comfortable with active directory/exchange too but I'm not sure that's where I want to take my business.

Brooky, I checked out pchomehelp but unfortunately doesn't seem suitable for me. It's £30 for the first hour, of which they take £12.50. Given that I'm charging £65 an hour (remember it's London folks) I don't think that site would really work for me. As for the handy applications on a usb key, absolutely. Very handy to have a bunch of tools to tidy up someone's system.

Paradroid, I've not really got a brand, just a site - The Computer Bloke - Home Computer Support it's a bit shit, but I did it myself, and I've never made a website before :S

 

[xane]

Given that I'm charging £65 an hour

That's what I'd probably charge, about the same as a plumber, electrician, etc (in London).

P.S. One neat tool to have on your USB stick is Hijack This, available here.

 

[KevinUK]

Make your font size bigger? Old people will have a hard time

Do you get many calls from people who stumbled onto your website?

 

[nath]

P.S. One neat tool to have on your USB stick is Hijack This, available here.

Oh yeah, I've used that quite a bit - very handy tool.

Do you get many calls from people who stumbled onto your website?

Not really no, I should probably get some hidden text on it for the search engines - engineer, computer, support, london etc.

 

[Paradroid]

Nath you have to decide on the image you want, which will be dependant on your target audience. In your testimonials the first one is the financial times, which is great kudos, but your image is associated with geeks/nerds.

Adverts trying to portray professional images don't usually have exclamation marks, unless to highlight an 'amazing' sale (50% off!!!). You may want to confirm major brands you can deal with (PCs, Macs, etc...you do mention iPods & Blackberrys).

"I'll even set the clock on your vcr!" ... and lick their bowl clean too? You're trying to sell your services as an IT specialist (I think), not a handy man! Don't degrade the image by offering to do menial tasks (especially not in the advert, when your at their gaff then fair-do's, shag the dog if it pays well). You should be portraying the image of a uber-busy IT miracle worker, who's in high demand, not one of the IT Crowd. (would you trust a doctor who also advertises that he tiles bathrooms?)

My real advice to you would be to blag. There's loads of peeps in your exact situation, some scraping by, others raking it in. Visit their websites, see the competition and what they're doing, study the market, blag ideas from the community, find a corner of the market you feel you can exploit.

We could give you ideas for adverts/posters'n'shit, but you need to do the whole business model thing first. The title on the main webpage advert, "Computer Problems? Need Help? Why not call the Computer Bloke?". The "...Why not call the Computer Bloke" part should be far more pronounced - the 'problem-hook' at the top is 20 times bigger than the name of your business!

BTW, what's with the email on your contact details page? From my experience (5 years in L&D, the last year in Comms & Marketing ... moving into Business Analyst role soon), it seems a bit ironic that you're advertising IT support (including tuition) but you've created an unnecessary hurdle for new peeps to contact you. You even compound the situation in your explanation by alluding to 'problems' with unsolicited emails (that seem out of your control? ... back to the image again).

I've been involved in customer services quite a bit over the years (my org has won a euro-wide award 3 times in a row, topping all the big chains/names) and you should always look at things from a 'customer experience' point of view. The 'customer' will have visited tons of similar websites and not one of them has any fangled round-about fudgery which forces you to manually reconstruct an email address. Personally, anything that forces me to lean forward and type at the keyboard usually results on me leaving the page for an alternative. So it's a double-whammy: firstly you're expecting them to jump through hoops just to contact you by email (which might be a problem if they need tuition); secondly, you're portraying an image of someone who is having problems themselves with unsolicited emails (so maybe that should be in a seperate bullet pointed list of "things I can't do").




Do you have a mission statement yet? What about some kind of customer charter or buyers promise?

You are fully licensed and bonded by the city, aren't you?

 

[nath]

All valid points that I'll definitely look at sorting (with regards to my website) but generally, the site was a bit of an afterthought. What I wanted was a basic site that would be more or less just a vehicle for my testimonials. Primarily what I was looking for in posting this thread was ideas of sites that I can advertise my services on, such as gumtree, yell.com etc. That said, more often than not, these sites will link people to my site so I guess I need to resolve some of those issues that I mentioned.

The VCR thing was more an attempt at saying that when you hire me out, you're hiring a technically minded person, not someone who knows how to remove a virus and nothing more. Though your point still stands, and I'll look at rewording/removing it.

As for the e-mail I did wonder if that was a bit much to ask people to deal with - I guess I can just suffer with spam on that account if/when it comes.

We could give you ideas for adverts/posters'n'shit, but you need to do the whole business model thing first.

As I say, all I'm really looking for is places to get my name out there. I'm not looking to start up a company, merely get enough clients to earn a living. Advertising myself is (clearly) not my forte but the work that I do is. I just need a few more clients and very often once I've done a job for them they're eager to tell their friends - which really is the best form of advertising I can get.

You mentioned the FT article putting out an image that I'm a geek/nerd, what'd you suggest I do about this though - I can't see how it'd make more sense not to have it at all...

 

[Paradroid]

...
You mentioned the FT article putting out an image that I'm a geek/nerd, what'd you suggest I do about this though - I can't see how it'd make more sense not to have it at all...

Well, it wasn't written as a testimonial for you (it has that weird columnist style), you're coincidental to the story (like having a walk on part in a 70s porno), and it portrays you as Beaker from the muppets. Put it in as link at the bottom of the list with a positive summary as the hypertext "good/rave review from FT columnist".

A wild stab in the dark here, but are you qualified to do this in any way? There's no mention of certification/registration/affiliations with any bodies (ie guarantees?) ... I suppose marketing yourself as The IT Bloke, for home users, you probably didn't need to advertise qualifications etc. But you should certainly look into small business contracts.

 

[Nate]

Try going to a local event(like the church) tell the dog collar guy you want to say a prayer and then tell everyone about your brilliant IT home support business subliminally.

I have prepared a draft prayer for you:

Our Nath, which art in Home IT Support,
Hallowed be thy number.
01555 Kingdom 555555.
Tests will be done,
in software as it is in hardware.
Give us this support our daily bread.
And Nath will give us free health checks,
As we give our neighbours his details.
And lead us not into PC World;
But deliver us from evil.
[For Nath is the kingdom, The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever.] Nathmen.

 

[Bahumat]

Send out leaflets to every house in a 20 mile radius, then unleash one Bitch of a virus and watch the phones ring off the hook!

 

[dysfunction]

What does home IT support actually do?

Do you go round to people's houses and show them how to use their PC?

you looking to do the same?

 

[nath]

A wild stab in the dark here, but are you qualified to do this in any way? There's no mention of certification/registration/affiliations with any bodies (ie guarantees?) ... I suppose marketing yourself as The IT Bloke, for home users, you probably didn't need to advertise qualifications etc. But you should certainly look into small business contracts.

Nope, none of that - just experience. I think you're going a bit to businessy with this - the reason I decided to do this freelance shit is because I don't really like the business world. Infact, I don't really like working for a living at all but such is life. If I get about 3-5 jobs a week it'll give me enough to live on for a while so all I really want is home users. I'm not looking to make a career here, just enough money to get by. Like I said, the site is an afterthought really - I'm just after a few more sites I can get my name out on.