Monday seemed to be a groundbreaking day when it comes to owners rights to their Smartphones. The FCC has officially announced the legality of jailbreaking Smartphones, in particular the iPhone.

The Reason Behind the FCC Decision

In a statement, they said jailbreaking Smartphones is “innocuous at worst and beneficial at best.” Apple did not go without a fight on this issue, saying this practice is a form of copyright violation. The FCC disagreed though, saying that not only is this practice legitimate, but it enhanced the inter-operability of the phone.

Why Would I Jailbreak my iPhone?

Many owners will now choose to legally “unlock” their iPhone in order to run software applications that aren’t necessarily approved by Apple. It can also be unlocked so it can be used on other networks (one of the most popular being T-Mobile). Cell Phone companies such as Apple are still free to make “unlocking” the phone as difficult as they desire.

Know the Risks Involved

Although the legality of this issue is not in question anymore does not make jailbreaking risky. Apple does tell us in a statement,”Apple’s goal has always been to insure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience.” Now there is some truth to this, especially since Apple has also said,” It is also important to note that unauthorized modification of the iOS is a violation of the iPhone end-user license agreement. Because of this, Apple may deny service for an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that has installed any unauthorized software.” Jailbreaking also opens up your phone to malicious attacks, because Apple works to provide a safe environment known as the App Store.

So no matter whether you are looking to jailbreak your phone to run third party software applications or not willing to take the risk of jailbreaking, this ruling has definitely changed the outlook of Smartphones as we know it.

One of the biggest issues I run into today is getting data from work to home and back to work. I always seem to forget to e-mail or update my thumb drive when it was most important. Looking for options, I came across a great site that would fit all of my needs.

Introducing DropBox

Although DropBox has been out for a while, I recently discovered it. With this site, you load the software on to your computer(s) and when you boot up, it automatically synchronizes with the server updating all your information. I use this for my work computer and my home computer whether it is a project I am working on or IT support software, I do not need to worry about updating my jump drive and/or e-mailing the data to the respective computer.

Price

There are three account types with DropBox. There is the 100GB (Gigabytes) option, which is 19.00 per month or 199.00 per year, the 50GB option that is 9.99 per month or 99.00 per year and the 2GB option that is free. Unless you are storing and or moving large amounts of data, the 2GB option is the way to go. However, you can earn up to 8GBs of total space by referring people.

Check out my video I did on DropBox here, it goes through the site more in depth.

With the world quickly adapting to modern technology and using computers regularly, social networking is one of the biggest forms of communication ever seen.

What I’m here to show you is just how powerful social networking can be when you use it to promote your computer repair services or any other type of products/services that you might happen to offer.

Social networking provides businesses with the opportunity to express themselves.

This gives consumers the opportunity to personally get to know the company and its employees that they are doing business with or looking to do business with. Just make sure to keep it professional and show what it is that sets you apart from your competitors.

Social networking gives you a bigger audience to pitch to.

Since social networking is now one of the most popular things to do online, many people are using it to find friends, products, and services. Those companies who are active in the world of social networking will have the opportunity to pitch their offerings to a targeted and bigger audience.

Social networking doesn’t require a lot of driving around.

When it comes down to it, basic marketing tactics such as visiting the locals and passing out flyers takes time and gas. Sure, those are great to participate in every so often, but not every single day.

With social networking, you can market your business wherever you have a computer that’s connected to the internet, eliminating the need to waste time and gas going around town trying to bring in new business.

Social networking shows that you’re a business on top of the latest technology.

Are there a lot of computer repair businesses that simply ignore the latest breakthroughs in the world of computing? Absolutely! In fact, I bet there’s at least 3 computer repair companies in the US who don’t even know what cloud hosting is.

By harnessing the multiple social networking sites that are used by tons of people all around the world, even within your community, you’re making the statement that your business is truly revolutionary.

Social Networking Wrapped Up

I hate to sound rude, but if you ignore social networking you may as well hang the coat up on the rack. You seriously wouldn’t understand just how much you’re limiting the success of your computer repair business if you refuse to take the little amount of time required to have an active presence in the world of social networking.

Light Up The Local Paper

The local newspaper can help you gain the recognition you need to get a start. Also, other local publications such as a Bargain Post (basically a paid classifieds publication) can also help you reel in interested people.

When you create an ad for any publication, try to be as creative as possible. Anyone can place an ad, but the ones who draw attention with creativity usually have the best results. Everyone sees ads constantly, but it’s not all of the time that we see something that is sure to provide a memory for life.

Network With Other Businesses

Just about every type of business I have been to uses computers (except my barber who really dislikes technology for some odd reason). Where they use computers, they can use the services that we have to offer. Whether it is now or later really doesn’t matter since the revenue all adds up the same at the end of the year.

Make sure you make a regular habit of meeting with local business owners not only to promote what you have to offer, but to get to know them as well. The more relationships that we build simply means the more people that know about us.

Sponsor Local Events

Local events are a great opportunity to promote computer repair services. Especially since most households now contain some form of computing device. This could be an Easter egg hunt or a carnival. Wherever the locals are gathering, make sure they see your name at least once during the event.

Distribute Flyers/Literature

Ok, this might not be an absolutely remarkable form of marketing, but it does work when it’s done right. Make sure whatever it is that you decide to pass out clearly explains your company and what it does.

Those who see it truly need to justify their call to you that brings you to their home or business. Make sure you don’t create a flyer so vague that it ends up in the trash, make it to where they just have to show someone else because it’s so full of awesomeness.

Internet Marketing

This needs to be done carefully, so that you target the area around you with demographics that actually fit those who are mainly in need of computer repair services. However, internet marketing can become a form of advertising that you won’t ever want to turn away as the outcomes are unpredictable.

Did you just see that computer repair company do that? If not, there’s a possibility that you’re lacking a competitive analysis. “What’s that,” you ask. Well, it’s basically digging up the dirt on your competition so to say.

What is a competitive analysis?

Simply put, this is something that’s done in order to understand how your competitors do business and how they gain new customers. This is simply one of the most important parts of business in my opinion. The reason for this is that I truly feel that if I’m unaware of what my competition is doing, I’m in the dark and limiting my success.

 How do I do a competitive analysis?

Keep in mind, I’m not going to give away all of my secrets here. Not because I’m in competition with you, because I’m not and if I was I still wouldn’t really care, That’s not the point, the point is that in order to become successful you have to be self-driven instead of relying on copying what someone else is doing.

However, here’s a few things off of the top of my head that you can ask yourself. This should actually get on the right road to coming up with a helpful competitive analysis.

• What services does my competitor offer?
• What prices do they charge?
• How do they provide their services?
• How are they advertising their services?

Sorry that it was a bit brief, but I warned you. If you still want more info, think about it like this. If I was a customer and went to Company A, what would I expect and how would they treat me?

A Competitive Analysis Is A Priceless Tool To Have On Your Side

When you actually take the time to analyze your competition and document your findings, you know what you need to do as a company in order to top their offerings. This will help you have an upper edge on them as a lot of smaller companies especially forget to constantly do a competitive analysis.

The main reason is that they get too comfortable for success. They may or may not have been doing business for years and they think their customers will be there with them until the day they die.

When someone wise comes in to play ball, things can get pretty shooken up. That is if you do business as you would play a game of chess. With logic.