Have a website up, local listings on Bing, Yellowpages.com and google, flyers all over town, business cards made up, Shop set up ready for work, joinjed the Chamber of Commerce, and still not even one phone call. Is this normal ????

My only income so far has been from recording and producing, which isn't as viable as it was a few years ago. I know it takes approximately 6 plus months to get any business off the ground, but not even one phone call?

I've driven around around town and noticed that a lot of folks have taken my number from the flyers yet still nothing. Very disheartening to say the least.

hang in there any new business is goingto take time to get off the ground, most of your workwill come from word of mouth when custom starts if your any good the work will come fast and furious.

Originally Posted by popeye67

hang in there any new business is goingto take time to get off the ground, most of your workwill come from word of mouth when custom starts if your any good the work will come fast and furious.

Thanks Popeye

I wasn't complaining, just curious if this is the norm in the computer repair startup business. I've owned other businesses in the past so I know how to market. I've always had work within a couple of weeks or less before.

Computers really is my passion and I would really love to see this take off !

And put a clickable link to your website in your sig, every little helps.

Can always start off with something just to get your foot in the door, free diagnostics, cheap tune ups... that sort of thing. It might be silly but getting that initial penetration will do wonders.

Yeah people are always up for a freebie, if your doing nothing else and it gets people through the door its worth a try.

Starting out and getting your name out there is very hard. Once people know you and trust your work, then it gets easier.

When I started my business it was hard. What really got my business going was that I opened a booth at the local flea market and offered discount repairs there. Once my business name got out and people realized I was a good tech then I started getting refusals. Word of Mouth is by far my biggest advertisement. I have a few small businesses that I work with and I got them all by Word of Mouth. Everyone of them said ... Well so and so told me that you do go work. (I always ask how they heard of me so I know what advertisement is working)

Make sure you are displaying your knowledge. In my shop at the flea market I display my college degree and my certifications. This helps starting out. If they don't know any techs and they are looking for work to be done, will they go to Joe Blow or will they go to some that shows they worked hard to get educated. That being said if you do not have any certifications I would suggest getting at least the A+ and MCP.

When you fix a computer for a customer hand them 5 business cards. Tell them "If you are happy with my work please had these cards to friends and family" You would not believe how much this has helped me.

Join local networking groups. They are great with spreading the word around about you.

Originally Posted by AdamsAPlus

Starting out and getting your name out there is very hard. Once people know you and trust your work, then it gets easier.

When I started my business it was hard. What really got my business going was that I opened a booth at the local flea market and offered discount repairs there. Once my business name got out and people realized I was a good tech then I started getting refusals. Word of Mouth is by far my biggest advertisement. I have a few small businesses that I work with and I got them all by Word of Mouth. Everyone of them said ... Well so and so told me that you do go work. (I always ask how they heard of me so I know what advertisement is working)

Make sure you are displaying your knowledge. In my shop at the flea market I display my college degree and my certifications. This helps starting out. If they don't know any techs and they are looking for work to be done, will they go to Joe Blow or will they go to some that shows they worked hard to get educated. That being said if you do not have any certifications I would suggest getting at least the A+ and MCP.

When you fix a computer for a customer hand them 5 business cards. Tell them "If you are happy with my work please had these cards to friends and family" You would not believe how much this has helped me.

Join local networking groups. They are great with spreading the word around about you.

Thanks for the feedback Adam. Unfortunately Flea Markets are not a big thing in the Seattle area or I would have done that immediately. I used to live in NJ, and they are huge there!

Seems like somebody is running around town and removing all my postings which may explain the lack of inquires. I have my college degree for computers and a "certificate for Desktop Support" (it's basically the college's version of the A+ certification) but never got my actual A+. Our professor seemed convinced that a college degree is more relevent than any certificate. He almost went as far as trying to talk his students out of obtaining one.

Anyhoo, I got my CompTIA 2009 A+ edition with a CD that contains the "certblaster" program. Guess it's time to install it and start preparing myself for the CompTIA A+ exam.

Thanks for your time
Gabriel

Use advertising that no one can tamper with...the newspaper and radio. They do cost a bit more but folks will see and hear. Also contact the local businesses...they will eventually need a computer person.

Originally Posted by busdriver72

Use advertising that no one can tamper with...the newspaper and radio. They do cost a bit more but folks will see and hear. Also contact the local businesses...they will eventually need a computer person.

Yeah I may need to go the expense route. I registered with Bing, Google and Magic Yellow (I think they are the online version of the yellow pages). Their salesman was attempting to sell me advertising at $40.00/month, $350.00 for the 1st 6 months then $40/month after that for priority listing. Somehow this math doesn't make sense lol. Anyhoo I didn't have the extra funds to spend at that time. Maybe I should look into it again?