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Actual for You - Marketing Techniques: What Works & What Doesn't for a PC Repair Business
Jack Welch joined a conference that was held in Duke Fuquay Business School where he was invited to promote his new book called “Winning”. He told audience about how culture is important in a company. Culture builds integration and integration guarantees better products and services for customers. In GE’s 1994 annual report his statements were no different. “Boundaryless behavior…” he said “…has become the right behavior at GE, and aligned with this behavior is a rewards system that recognizes the adapter or implementer of an idea as much as its originator. Creating this open, sharing climate magnifies the enormous and unique advantage of a multibusiness GE, as our wide diversity of service and industrial businesses exchange an endless stream of new ideas and best practices.”A little over 10 years, does his story still stick? Yes but only in theory… Many multibusinesses have figured out harshly that they need to understand their core business competency and capitalize on that in order to survive, rather than surrendering their many businesses with one culture like Welch said. Simply because, it was not working! Since that was understood plainly, across the globe, multibusiness managements have been under increasing pressure, as they struggle with decisions about what businesses they should be in and how they should structure and influence these businesses. GE, Siemens, Tyco, 3M, and few others have escaped from this fact as they could answer the crucial qu
Government career outlook predictions aren't developed yet for the Virtual Assistance industry, whether that's because it's a relatively new field or because the tasks done by VAs are as varied as the VAs themselves remains to be seen. One has to examine similar fields and skill-sets to see how VAs will fare in the years to come. By looking at these similar fields, you can see that the growth outlook for Virtual Assistance is above average. The question of "Will this job still be around in 20 years?" can be answered by looking at the services that a specific VA is offering and closely-related "traditional" employment fields.The most important thing to remember, though, is to keep current with technology and software that can progress your business. If you only know outdated technology, then you and your business are outdated and your clients may go elsewhere for service. Keep adding to your services and learn everything you can about your niche market and what they currently need.With many businesses restructuring and downsizing (getting rid of middle managers), companies are utilizing more and more secretarial and administrative support staff to take over those duties. If you offer administrative support as a VA, and market yourself as an off-site solution to those downsizing companies, your "job security" looks pretty good. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that you will have competition from on-site employees for these position
NEWSPAPER ADS
I knew quite a bit about graphic design (being a graphic designer for many years), so I would put an appetizing ad, no, in fact, a COUPON, in the local newspaper. People are always looking for a discount. And EVERYONE has computer problems. So I should just get swamped with business just off this one ad. NOPE! I got one phone call from my ad. I had placed the ad in the local newspaper (our city’s main newspaper) which went to 33,000 homes, and I had it come out on the biggest readership day: Sunday. The ad I placed was a professionally-designed Computer Tune-up ad that I had done, giving them a discount from the regular price of $69, to $49. They were saving $20! It was an incredible deal! But I only had one response. Why? What did I do wrong?
Unfortunately, I was forced to use a horrible, red border. It is HUGE! In order to get the deal I was getting for this ad, my ad had to be put in with a couple of other ads (not related to the computer business) and have an ice cream-looking coupon border around it.
The ad had all of the elements of a good coupon. It has a GREAT deal! You are saving $20 off the regular price (this is the next best thing to FREE – a dollar value of savings). They have to act now (call to action) because it is for a limited time and expires in two weeks. People are graphic in nature and the picture of the computer and the words, “Computer Help!” in the screen will identify with people having computer problems. The headline is bold and heavy, it stands out from the rest – so that you don’t have a paragraph of information that people won’t read, and it speaks directly to people having a slow computer (everyone has a slow computer). Then it goes on to explain the headline in more detail with a subhead. Plus, there is a GUARANTEE of a speed increase. You CAN’T go wrong with an ad like this, can you? Well, I did
Benjamin Franklin is attributed as the first person who said, “Time is money.” Well, that was over 200 years ago and you know, for Service Managers, it couldn’t be any more true today than it was back then. That is the essence of what Service Managers do everyday. They turn a technician’s time into labor revenue. For a service department to be profitable they have to turn the time paid to technicians into dollars and do it efficiently.Many dealerships are not paying enough attention to the relationship between time and money. And that one area represents one of the greatest opportunities we have in improving service departmental profits. So let’s see how we can improve this situation and start returning the profits we need and deserve.We will start at the really basic level. What does a Service Department do to make money? They hire technicians who work on equipment and they charge the customers for doing that. In other words they hire techs and bill out their time one way or another. Sure there can, and should be, other income streams such as outside labor and materials, sublets, shop supplies, vehicles etc, but the basis of any service department is to sell time. They buy time from their employees and the sell it to their customers, and hopefully at a profit.OK, so now that we all agree that the function of a service department is to sell time can we also agree that the service manager has to manage this resource efficiently so t
NEWSPAPER ADS
I knew quite a bit about graphic design (being a graphic designer for many years), so I would put an appetizing ad, no, in fact, a COUPON, in the local newspaper. People are always looking for a discount. And EVERYONE has computer problems. So I should just get swamped with business just off this one ad. NOPE! I got one phone call from my ad. I had placed the ad in the local newspaper (our city’s main newspaper) which went to 33,000 homes, and I had it come out on the biggest readership day: Sunday. The ad I placed was a professionally-designed Computer Tune-up ad that I had done, giving them a discount from the regular price of $69, to $49. They were saving $20! It was an incredible deal! But I only had one response. Why? What did I do wrong?
Unfortunately, I was forced to use a horrible, red border. It is HUGE! In order to get the deal I was getting for this ad, my ad had to be put in with a couple of other ads (not related to the computer business) and have an ice cream-looking coupon border around it.
The ad had all of the elements of a good coupon. It has a GREAT deal! You are saving $20 off the regular price (this is the next best thing to FREE – a dollar value of savings). They have to act now (call to action) because it is for a limited time and expires in two weeks. People are graphic in nature and the picture of the computer and the words, “Computer Help!” in the screen will identify with people having computer problems. The headline is bold and heavy, it stands out from the rest – so that you don’t have a paragraph of information that people won’t read, and it speaks directly to people having a slow computer (everyone has a slow computer). Then it goes on to explain the headline in more detail with a subhead. Plus, there is a GUARANTEE of a speed increase. You CAN’T go wrong with an ad like this, can you? Well, I did
As Google Adwords and Google Adsense becomes more mainstream, the rate of fraud from self-clicking (commonly called Google-bation), and click-draining (clicking on competitors ads), will increase exponentially.The problem is that the electronic antichrist has an obvious conflict of interest in eliminating fraud. Like most web site owners running Google Adsense, you probably are tempted to just "test" ads to make sure all the html you have embedded on your site is working.In some markets these little "tests" can reward the web site owner over $20 per click. Drugs, bank loans and obesity cures pay pretty well I'm told.And if you only test one click per day, that's $140 per week. You and Google share the booty and if the pain is spread across multiple Adwords advertisers. Who is to know? What are the chances of being caught?The super-paranoid defrauders who do their research will probably discover the joys of anonymous proxy servers. With these little beauties you can click on your ads all day long. An iPod by lunchtime, a new Xbox 360 by dinner - the money and the buzz of ripping off the electronic antichrist becomes addictive.And for the truly entrepreneurial why not hire some click-workers in a low-wage country?Some enterprising click-workers roam from Internet cafe to Internet cafe in large third world cities with lists of web sites in their hands. They may use up to 15 different cafes per day in an effort to show the
Unfortunately, I was forced to use a horrible, red border. It is HUGE! In order to get the deal I was getting for this ad, my ad had to be put in with a couple of other ads (not related to the computer business) and have an ice cream-looking coupon border around it.
The ad had all of the elements of a good coupon. It has a GREAT deal! You are saving $20 off the regular price (this is the next best thing to FREE – a dollar value of savings). They have to act now (call to action) because it is for a limited time and expires in two weeks. People are graphic in nature and the picture of the computer and the words, “Computer Help!” in the screen will identify with people having computer problems. The headline is bold and heavy, it stands out from the rest – so that you don’t have a paragraph of information that people won’t read, and it speaks directly to people having a slow computer (everyone has a slow computer). Then it goes on to explain the headline in more detail with a subhead. Plus, there is a GUARANTEE of a speed increase. You CAN’T go wrong with an ad like this, can you? Well, I did
This section talks about the importance of having a mentor in your life. Mentors are individuals who you look up. You may or may not know them personally, but they inspire you to move towards a certain direction.Key To your SuccessHaving a mentor is a crucial key to success—one that many women in today’s workforce simply do not have. And it’s no surprise. With only six women at the helm of Fortune 500 companies, less than 13 percent of the corporate officer ranks made up of women, and the time pressures all working women confront, finding a mentor may seem next to impossible. But be open-minded about potential mentors. A good mentor can be a man, a woman, a person of a color different from yours, or even your boss. The most important factor is that you and your mentor can comfortably exchange feedback and ideas .Mentorship may be the single most important reason why—among the equally talented—men tend to rise higher than women. And Catalyst should know, having recently published a book of workplace advice titled, Be Your Own Mentor. Catalyst, a non-profit organization, has been working to advance women in business and the professions for 40 years. In carrying out our mission, we talk to many successful women—diverse women—all of whom believe that having mentors is an essential success strategy.You may be thinking, “I work hard, I really know my stuff. Why do I need a mentor?”First, mentors can give you the big picture. Understan
The ad had all of the elements of a good coupon. It has a GREAT deal! You are saving $20 off the regular price (this is the next best thing to FREE – a dollar value of savings). They have to act now (call to action) because it is for a limited time and expires in two weeks. People are graphic in nature and the picture of the computer and the words, “Computer Help!” in the screen will identify with people having computer problems. The headline is bold and heavy, it stands out from the rest – so that you don’t have a paragraph of information that people won’t read, and it speaks directly to people having a slow computer (everyone has a slow computer). Then it goes on to explain the headline in more detail with a subhead. Plus, there is a GUARANTEE of a speed increase. You CAN’T go wrong with an ad like this, can you? Well, I did
Incentive Plans Should Be UniversalGet your entire staff to pull in the same direction by designing your incentive plan to include all employees at some level of participation and only after a temporary evaluation period with the company (often 90 days). Many plans include part timers as well as full timers but at a somewhat lesser share of the proceeds.Incentives Must Be Significant and of Perceived Value to the RecipientTo create a real incentive, the recipient must perceive the potential reward as a significant addition to income. Otherwise, the incentive is looked upon as deserved supplemental income or even a “benefit”. To add further to the perceived value, there should be public (company) recognition of the employees’ performance.Incentives Should Relate to Individual PerformanceA factor in the determination of how much an individual employee receives should be their performance rating as determined by their last formal job review and appraisal. All other things being equal, a superior job performance should command a higher share of the incentive proceeds.An Incentive Plan Should Include a Factor for the Employee’s Overall Job ResponsibilityIt is reasonable to relate an employee’s rating for incentive purposes to their overall responsibility in the company as determined by the number of employees supervised and/or budget for which they have direct control. General categories can have different ratings in th
Whenever you get ready to do any type of advertisement, you should test-market it, first. Whether it is an ad, a website (or page), direct marketing (such as mailers, mailed brochures or ads), etc., you should test it on different types of people to see how they will respond, and record their responses. In the case of the ad, I should have passed this ad out to several people and got their responses of the ad. I should have then placed this ad on a page with several other similar ads and got responses from different people looking at the entire page of ads, had them put down the page, and asked them to tell me what stood out. Could they remember any good deals? This would tell me if my ad would stand out in a newspaper, among other similar ads.
In my particular instance of only getting one response from my “great” ad, it was literally buried in with other ads that looked similar to mine. In fact, my ad was not even on a page with other services, but “hidden” on a series of pages that had nothing at all to do with what I was offering, or computers, or even a story about a computer… nothing! People who would be looking for my type of service were not going to look where my ad was, and that is the lesson: PUT YOUR AD WHERE YOUR POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS WILL LOOK, NOT WHERE YOU GET A GOOD DEAL ON ADVERTISING ! and DO TEST MARKETING.
After my ad came out, I gave my wife the newspaper and asked her to find my ad (test marketing after the advertising came out… too little, too late). It took her TWO TIMES of going through the newspaper, page-by-page (and this is a small city newspaper) to find my ad (and she knew what to look for and what the ad looked like). So how are potential customers going to find my ad if they don’t even know that they need to look for it??? They won’t!
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