looking for ideas for in home computer repair advertising?

Make sure you are incorporated, or a PLLC ASAP.

Make sure you have customers sign a waiver of some sort, or get some kind of insurance, or protection.

Next, find some smaller companies who need that service. Take a moment to think of what kinda companies you would be a good cross reference for..

Stores that only sell equipment
Telco's and cable companies who provide routers, but do not install them.
Small companies overwhelmed with job loads
Consulting companies for businesses who deal with the billing side
Etc, etc.

I would hate to do that, I do similar work part time for a ISP and tech place. But word of mouth is about the best advertising you can do.

smart move for this type of business

lol now THAT'S a business plan

To answer your question, our initial charge is 29.00. A typical call is an extremely slow pc. To fix it we usually just have to clear out the startup menu's (msconfig), turn off auto visual settings,auto update and run a virus/spyware scan. Then we run a complete system diagnostic utility (five minutes and it specifies exactly what the system is ie:type of ram,exact processor, driver numbers ect..) Recommend any upgrades needed. end of the 29.00 service.
extra charges are for driver updates, firewall install, hardware upgrades...like for instance directx9.0c which is responsible for running most devices on your computer (dxdiag from the run menu will tell you what version you have.) javascript- sun's big fight with microsoft that left java out of ie...(led to the service pack in my opinion), video drivers, ect. or a laptop that's running 256mb ram (512 runs way faster on a laptop) prices vary for the hardware depending on the system and markup is anywhere from 20% to 500% ex a .10 cap we sell for 5.00 when used in a repair. Modem sells for 20 cost 12 ect..
typically it runs around 150 for a complete system "overhaul"; and that doesent include any profit off of the hardware upgrades.
We also seem to do alot of video card repair and motherboard repair wich usually ends up being blown up capacitors that need replacing due to a very low power supply/demand ratio. NOT worth the effort for the motherboards. IS worth it on the video cards. We also get alot of clogged up fan motors, air flow problems and stupid problems like that. (extra 29.00 cleaning+fan).
We designed and use a checklist sheet/reciept specifying all costs for the customer BEFORE we do the work.
Our number one priority on a call is CUSTOMER satisfaction and i'm happy to say so far it's a 100%.
Here's a tip for whoever reads this: Remember, a 300watt. power supply/amplifier/stereo bought for a cheap price is usually rated pps or "max"..meaning it's not really 300w but more like 120w. 300 w pps means they ran 300 watts rms across it for ten seconds and it didn't blow up.
Look for an rms, peak,or peak to peak ratings. RMS is true. (.707 x rms=peak) (peak is 1/2 of peak to peak) anything else is a joke. For stereo systems also look at the +- ratings,the db ratings and MATCH your speakers as closely as possible. A cheaper MATCHED computer OR stereo system is better than an expensive system that is not. There are good deals out there but you do get what you pay for and knowledge is KEY.