looking for ideas for in home computer repair advertising? - GoFuckYourself.com

Bosco4y2k3 · 03-17-2005, 09:18 PM

Any suggestions on local advertising for in home computer repair?
Already did the flyers on the door/car thing with ok response and trying to keep the advertising budget to a minimum. The local flyer ad is already placed.
Anyone think of some good local advertising tecniques?

Furious_Female · 03-17-2005, 09:35 PM

Do you have a Penny Saver or something equivalent in your area? They are usually cheap and have a broad circulation.

Also, look into renting a billboard. Depending on the location, they aren't as much money as people think.

warlock5 · 03-17-2005, 09:42 PM

I'm working on developing an in home pc repair company myself.. Best Buy has their own "Geek Squad" where they charge *minimum* $120 and they pay their employees $7 an hour. We already have word of mouth going for ours. I'm planning on running an ad campaign in the local paper for a month or two. Then its off to writing ebooks on how to make $100,000 a year with your own pc repair business

JFPdude · 03-17-2005, 09:43 PM

Penny Saver ??? You from New Hampshire ?

flashfire · 03-17-2005, 09:46 PM

does your city have a website?

Furious_Female · 03-17-2005, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFPdude

Penny Saver ??? You from New Hampshire ?

NY

After Shock Media · 03-17-2005, 09:50 PM

Drive around town sniffing out open routers, proceed to crash their system and then ring the door bell.

Babaganoosh · 03-17-2005, 09:51 PM

Don't do it. I tried it right after I finished getting my MCSE and A+ certs and quit working for Motorola. It's non-stop bullshit from idiot customers. I'd rather flip burgers or clean bathrooms than fix computers for people.

pornguy · 03-17-2005, 09:58 PM

Where are you located???

If you are in socal, hit me on icq

if you want to get a banner made, hit me on icq

hydro · 03-17-2005, 09:59 PM

word of mouf... i know a guy that did it and only charged if he had to replace hardware and everything else was free. He ran that promo for a few months now he gets flooded with calls.

Bosco4y2k3 · 03-17-2005, 10:01 PM

Already in my area's "penny saver" and business is supporting itself ok. Problem is we were spending too much time advertising and not enough in home repair to turn a decent profit.
I just checked the city's website..no advertising so far as i can tell but great idea to check out tomorrow. thanks.
Incidentally we got the motivation to start up from "geek squad" so funny you should mention them. (what a rip off...lol) we do 29.00 spyware removal and usually end up with decent sales off the calls upgrading systems ect...
We also thought about going into the banner advertising for slow spots since the co-owner is a pretty good toon artist (all hand drawn) but if you check back on all my posts you'll see that's not working out real well....lol
We have alot of digital learning to do before we can start putting put decent banners so were focusing on the advertising end for now. Keep the ideas coming in....

Spunky · 03-17-2005, 10:02 PM

Pay some immigrants 5 bucks an hour to deliver your flyers

Furious_Male · 03-17-2005, 10:03 PM

I do a lot of business on the side just from word of mouth.

One word of caution. Make sure you have legal documents that the customer can sign in the event they suffer data loss or have a complete melt down you can't fix. The customer will always try to blame you regardless. Thats part of the reason I stick to working with individuals and businesses in a very tight circle.

Insurance can be expensive as well.

good luck

woj · 03-17-2005, 10:08 PM

Do something else, at first it may seem alright, but after a while you will get tired of dealing with people's problems. There are 10x better opportunities for bright, young, motivated guys like you.

IDBW-NOC · 03-17-2005, 10:20 PM

What profits are being made with those doing pc repair?

Barefootsies · 03-17-2005, 10:33 PM

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.

Sosa · 03-17-2005, 10:37 PM

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.

Serge Litehead · 03-17-2005, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydro

word of mouf... i know a guy that did it and only charged if he had to replace hardware and everything else was free. He ran that promo for a few months now he gets flooded with calls.

smart move for this type of business

pradaboy · 03-18-2005, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord of the fungi

Drive around town sniffing out open routers, proceed to crash their system and then ring the door bell.

lol now THAT'S a business plan

Bosco4y2k3 · 03-19-2005, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IdealBandwidth

What profits are being made with those doing pc repair?

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.

03-17-2005, 09:18 PM	#1
Bosco4y2k3 Confirmed User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 113	looking for ideas for in home computer repair advertising? Any suggestions on local advertising for in home computer repair? Already did the flyers on the door/car thing with ok response and trying to keep the advertising budget to a minimum. The local flyer ad is already placed. Anyone think of some good local advertising tecniques? __________________

03-17-2005, 09:35 PM	#2
Furious_Female Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Upstate, New York Posts: 8,187	Do you have a Penny Saver or something equivalent in your area? They are usually cheap and have a broad circulation. Also, look into renting a billboard. Depending on the location, they aren't as much money as people think. __________________ Skype: j3nn.com ICQ 160370494 My current favorite high-converting sponsor: CrakRevenue

03-17-2005, 09:51 PM	#8
Babaganoosh ♥♥♥ Likes Hugs ♥♥♥ Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: /home Posts: 15,841	Don't do it. I tried it right after I finished getting my MCSE and A+ certs and quit working for Motorola. It's non-stop bullshit from idiot customers. I'd rather flip burgers or clean bathrooms than fix computers for people. __________________ I like pie.

03-17-2005, 09:58 PM	#9
pornguy Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Homeless Posts: 62,911	Where are you located??? If you are in socal, hit me on icq if you want to get a banner made, hit me on icq __________________ PornGuy skype me pornguy_epic AmateurDough The Hottes Shemales online! TChicks.com \| Angeles Cid \| Mariana Cordoba \| MAILERS WELCOME!

03-17-2005, 10:01 PM	#11
Bosco4y2k3 Confirmed User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 113	Already in my area's "penny saver" and business is supporting itself ok. Problem is we were spending too much time advertising and not enough in home repair to turn a decent profit. I just checked the city's website..no advertising so far as i can tell but great idea to check out tomorrow. thanks. Incidentally we got the motivation to start up from "geek squad" so funny you should mention them. (what a rip off...lol) we do 29.00 spyware removal and usually end up with decent sales off the calls upgrading systems ect... We also thought about going into the banner advertising for slow spots since the co-owner is a pretty good toon artist (all hand drawn) but if you check back on all my posts you'll see that's not working out real well....lol We have alot of digital learning to do before we can start putting put decent banners so were focusing on the advertising end for now. Keep the ideas coming in.... __________________

03-17-2005, 09:42 PM	#3
warlock5 Confirmed User Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Uranus Posts: 2,808	I'm working on developing an in home pc repair company myself.. Best Buy has their own "Geek Squad" where they charge minimum $120 and they pay their employees $7 an hour. We already have word of mouth going for ours. I'm planning on running an ad campaign in the local paper for a month or two. Then its off to writing ebooks on how to make $100,000 a year with your own pc repair business

03-17-2005, 09:43 PM	#4
JFPdude Confirmed User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Mountains of Western North Carolina. Posts: 4,027	Penny Saver ??? You from New Hampshire ?

03-17-2005, 09:46 PM	#5
flashfire ICQ 1 6 7 8 5 3 4 9 2 Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 13,098	does your city have a website?

03-17-2005, 09:50 PM	#7
After Shock Media It's coming look busy Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn". Posts: 35,299	Drive around town sniffing out open routers, proceed to crash their system and then ring the door bell.

03-17-2005, 09:59 PM	#10
hydro Confirmed User Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Dirty 3rd Posts: 4,216	word of mouf... i know a guy that did it and only charged if he had to replace hardware and everything else was free. He ran that promo for a few months now he gets flooded with calls.

03-17-2005, 10:02 PM	#12
Spunky I need a beer Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: ♠ Toiletville ♠ Posts: 133,939	Pay some immigrants 5 bucks an hour to deliver your flyers __________________ *YOUR INFORMATION HERE*

03-17-2005, 10:03 PM	#13
Furious_Male Doing the grind since 99 Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Buffalo NY Posts: 16,881	I do a lot of business on the side just from word of mouth. One word of caution. Make sure you have legal documents that the customer can sign in the event they suffer data loss or have a complete melt down you can't fix. The customer will always try to blame you regardless. Thats part of the reason I stick to working with individuals and businesses in a very tight circle. Insurance can be expensive as well. good luck __________________ Living in Virtual Reality Contact: Email (preferred): furiousmale .at. gmail - Skype: live:shanedws

03-17-2005, 10:08 PM	#14
woj <&(©¿©)&> Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Chicago Posts: 47,882	Do something else, at first it may seem alright, but after a while you will get tired of dealing with people's problems. There are 10x better opportunities for bright, young, motivated guys like you. __________________ Custom Software Development, email: woj#at#wojfun#.#com to discuss details or skype: wojl2000 or gchat: wojfun or telegram: wojl2000 Affiliate program tools: Hosted Galleries Manager Banner Manager Video Manager Wordpress Affiliate Plugin Pic/Movie of the Day Fansign Generator Zip Manager

03-17-2005, 10:20 PM	#15
IDBW-NOC Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: [ICQ]322821921 Posts: 71	What profits are being made with those doing pc repair? __________________ IDEALBandwidth.com - 24/7 Phone, ICQ, and Ticket Support! All servers located in our datacenter in Houston! Over 7000Mbps of bandwidth UTILIZED, not just capacity! Ask me how you can get 20Mbps for only $299/month!

03-17-2005, 10:33 PM	#16
Barefootsies Choice is an Illusion Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Land of Obama Posts: 42,635	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. __________________ Should You Email Your Members? Link1 \| Link2 \| Link3 Enough Said. "Would you rather live like a king for a year or like a prince forever?"

03-17-2005, 10:37 PM	#17
Sosa In Tushy Land Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Nebraska Posts: 40,149	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.