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.

When it comes to having a presence locally, many people seem to forget that this is the most basic form of marketing that needs to be done. Regardless of what kind of business you’re in, the locals need to know who you are and what you do.

For computer repair companies, this is vital as many consumers actually don’t know what they’re options are when it comes to having their computer upgraded or repaired. Let’s take a look at some of the most common ways to create and maintain a professional local presence.

Start Off With Your Local Chamber of Commerce

Your local chamber of commerce can play an important role when it comes to proving that your computer repair company is legit. After all, a company that takes the time to remain a member of a local business-oriented organization is sure to be more attractive than your company that started in the middle of the night.

Maybe the middle of the night was a little too harsh, but what I’m referring to is companies that start doing business before they ever take one step to become a legal and responsible company.

Share With Those You Come Across

Whether you’re getting a hair cut or grabbing some grub between house calls, make sure that when you come across other locals that you inform them about what you do.

This is actually one of the most effective ways to start building a reputation, especially in smaller communities where everyone literally talks to each other. The few minutes you spend conversating with a local could be the time that you reeled in a new customer.

Donate Services To Prominent Organizations

I’m not talking about donating weeks or months of your time, just an hour or so here and there where you have the opportunity to help out someone doing something good within the community. This could be a church or a homeless shelter. When you lend them a helping hand, they’re sure to scratch your back by referring other people your way.

As you can see, getting and maintaining a local presence isn’t hard. Don’t get me wrong, there’s tons more ways that you can actually improve your presence within the community, but this is what will help you break the ice.

Just keep asking yourself what will help you gain attention in the community that you do business in. Don’t be scared to innovate as innovation is how you turn a small business into a very successful business.

Problem:

One of the biggest problems I run into is editing music and sounds for my videos and/or websites. Like anything else, there are plenty of software packages you can buy to edit music. Depending on your needs, sometimes freeware is the way to go and I feel Audacity is one of those exceptions.

Resolution:

Audacity is an audio editor that can be used for all types of things. I use Audacity all the time to make ringtones for my iphone, music drops for my videos and to edit sounds for my websites.

Here is the list of features Audacity offers: (From the website)

Recording

Audacity can record live audio through a microphone or mixer, or digitize recordings from cassette tapes, vinyl records, or minidiscs. With some sound cards, it can also capture streaming audio.

• Record from microphone, line input, or other sources.
• Dub over existing tracks to create multi-track recordings.
• Record up to 16 channels at once (requires multi-channel hardware).
• Level meters can monitor volume levels before, during, and after recording.

Import and Export

Import sound files, edit them, and combine them with other files or new recordings. Export your recordings in several common file formats.

• Import and export WAV, AIFF, AU, and Ogg Vorbis files.
• Import MPEG audio (including MP2 and MP3 files) with libmad.
• Export MP3s with the optional LAME encoder library.
• Create WAV or AIFF files suitable for burning to CD.
• Import and export all file formats supported by libsndfile.
• Open raw (headerless) audio files using the “Import Raw” command.
• Note: Audacity does not currently support WMA, AAC, or most other proprietary or restricted file formats.

Editing

• Easy editing with Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete.
• Use unlimited Undo (and Redo) to go back any number of steps.
• Very fast editing of large files.
• Edit and mix an unlimited number of tracks.
• Use the Drawing tool to alter individual sample points.
• Fade the volume up or down smoothly with the Envelope tool.

Effects

• Change the pitch without altering the tempo, or vice-versa.
• Remove static, hiss, hum, or other constant background noises.
• Alter frequencies with Equalization, FFT Filter, and Bass Boost effects.
• Adjust volumes with Compressor, Amplify, and Normalize effects.
• Other built-in effects include:
  • Echo
  • Phaser
  • Wahwah
  • Reverse

Sound Quality

• Record and edit 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit (floating point) samples.
• Record at up to 96 kHz.
• Sample rates and formats are converted using high-quality resampling and dithering.
• Mix tracks with different sample rates or formats, and Audacity will convert them automatically in realtime.

Plug-Ins

• Add new effects with LADSPA plug-ins.
• Audacity includes some sample plug-ins by Steve Harris.
• Load VST plug-ins for Windows and Mac, with the optional VST Enabler.
• Write new effects with the built-in Nyquist programming language.

Analysis

• Spectrogram mode for visualizing frequencies.
• “Plot Spectrum” command for detailed frequency analysis.

Free and Cross-Platform

• Licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
• Runs on Mac OS X, Windows, and GNU/Linux.

Check out Audacity…What do you have to lose?

We all know that the release of the Intel Atom processors has turned some heads in the technology industry lately. Mainly due to its ability to support faster RAM.

When it comes to innovating in today’s fast-pace market, you would think that computer manufacturers would be stepping on toes in order to quickly adapt their offerings to this hardware breakthrough.

The MSI Wind U160DX sure seems to be showing some hopes for providing the high standard of technology that MSI has been able to provide their consumers with in recent launches of their products.

You can think of this model as the one that brought death to the MSI Wind U160 which was just presented this year. Not too long ago, as a matter of fact.

Taking a look inside.

Now, you won’t see the Intel Atom inside this netbook, but what you will see is the N455 processor, which provides the ability to plug in DDR3 instead of the standard DDR2 that’s currently a netbook standard.

Sure, the question that remains unanswered is just how ruch DDR3 RAM you can stick into this netbook, but the speed is sure to provide any of its users with what they need to get the job done without having to bog down the system.

I can give you a nice tidbit of info that was leaked about this upcoming netbook though!

They slipped and mentioned that the MSI Wind U160DX will be able to stay on for 15 hours without having to recharge the battery or plug it into the wall. This is a pretty big innovation in IT, since most netbooks want to die pretty quickly.

As for any other information about this new MSI netbook, you have to be patient. They didn’t slip as much as we would’ve hoped so that we knew exactly what to expect, but they told us enough to let us know just how powerful this netbook has the potential of becoming.

You never know, this may be a moment in the history books that our grandchildren read about in history class. Well, that is a little out there, but we really never know until it happens. Who ever expected the internet to be as big as it is besides the geeks behind the creation of it?