Has anyone ever told you that size matters?
No... get your mind out of the gutter :-)
I'm not talking about THAT.
I'm talking about YOUR small business client size that you choose to target... and why that single factor can have such an enormous impact (good or bad) on YOUR business.
You should at least know that a great many small businesses will WANT your firm's help, but will frankly be too small to be able to afford an arrangement that's profitable for your firm to deliver.
At the other extreme, very large small businesses generally start hiring in-house IT staff and take on the generalist work themselves.
So this means that very large small businesses typically don't need virtual IT (outsourced IT) departments. Rather, very large small businesses usually want deeply-niched specialists... such as the be-all, end-all expert on Cisco IOS in the local region.
Where does that leave your consulting firm?
If you want to tackle the most profitable small business client accounts, you need to remember that size really DOES matter! And don't ever forget it!
Best,
- Joshua
Joshua Feinberg, co-founder ComputerConsulting101.com
http://www.computerconsultingkit.com/
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Thursday, January 27, 2005
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
It's your time or your money
A lot of fellow computer consultants have written in to us during the past few weeks asking about promotional activities.
The common thread?
Most want to know what's the SINGLE best way to get more of the best small business computer consulting clients.
I'll tell you though...
What it really boils down to...
You can either spend a small fortune on traditional advertising activities, like a bunch of naive, over-capitalized dot-coms of the late 1990's...
And this mania still hasn't entirely subsided.
I know of a small computer services company in the midwest whose business partners INSISTED on burning through roughly $200,000 in business development funds BEFORE they came to us.
Our recommended business development plan for them, for a TINY fraction of that budget, DRAMATICALLY outperformed the traditional drunken-sailor approach to promotional activities.
It's a matter of working smarter, NOT harder.
Which DOES definitely take some time.
But you've got to have a decent plan.
So when it comes to promotional activities, you can't just throw money at these things blindly...
or you'll most certainly fail miserably.
And you can't just rely entirely on elbow grease and pounding the pavement. Most peoples' gut instincts here, when trying to market on a zero-dollar budget, are dead-on wrong.
What works?
You need to CAREFULLY assemble a well-planned mix of promotional activities that make the most of both your limited budget and time. (After all, your opportunity cost is around 100/hour, right?)
But none of this can start happening for you until you decide to make it happen.
Best,
- Joshua
Joshua Feinberg, co-founder ComputerConsulting101.com
http://www.computerconsultingkit.com/
The common thread?
Most want to know what's the SINGLE best way to get more of the best small business computer consulting clients.
I'll tell you though...
What it really boils down to...
You can either spend a small fortune on traditional advertising activities, like a bunch of naive, over-capitalized dot-coms of the late 1990's...
And this mania still hasn't entirely subsided.
I know of a small computer services company in the midwest whose business partners INSISTED on burning through roughly $200,000 in business development funds BEFORE they came to us.
Our recommended business development plan for them, for a TINY fraction of that budget, DRAMATICALLY outperformed the traditional drunken-sailor approach to promotional activities.
It's a matter of working smarter, NOT harder.
Which DOES definitely take some time.
But you've got to have a decent plan.
So when it comes to promotional activities, you can't just throw money at these things blindly...
or you'll most certainly fail miserably.
And you can't just rely entirely on elbow grease and pounding the pavement. Most peoples' gut instincts here, when trying to market on a zero-dollar budget, are dead-on wrong.
What works?
You need to CAREFULLY assemble a well-planned mix of promotional activities that make the most of both your limited budget and time. (After all, your opportunity cost is around 100/hour, right?)
But none of this can start happening for you until you decide to make it happen.
Best,
- Joshua
Joshua Feinberg, co-founder ComputerConsulting101.com
http://www.computerconsultingkit.com/
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Like it's their last $250...
I don't know about you,
But you know what really burns me up?
Have you ever reluctantly taken on a small business customer, that's a little smaller than you'd usually like?
And to accommodate this smaller customer, you come up with the most low-budget, band-aid-like approach...
And the customer still won't stop complaining about the money they're spending with your firm...
as if it were their LAST $250 to their name?!?
Then to make matters worse, that customer calls you six-weeks later, blaming you for "breaking" something in their office that had nothing to do with what you were working on over there.
What a pain in the butt!
Like it was their last stinkin' $250!
But you don't need to put up with that crap.
Once you have a roster of steady, high-paying clients.
You'll have the independence to be able to pick and choose among the best small business IT services accounts.
And you'll enjoy the pleasure of being able to say, "Sorry, we have a _______ minimum."
Or, "I'm SO sorry, but our first available appointment is on the 12th of ______ (never!)"
Either way, once you have enough steady, high-paying clients using your firm as their virtual IT department, AND a way to keep your sale funnel continually filled up, you'll be in an entirely different position.
And then, you can even roll your eyes (when they're not looking, of course) when you smell the profit-rotting stench of a customer that's acting "like it's their last $250"!
Best,
- Joshua
Joshua Feinberg, co-founder ComputerConsulting101.com
http://www.computerconsultingkit.com/
But you know what really burns me up?
Have you ever reluctantly taken on a small business customer, that's a little smaller than you'd usually like?
And to accommodate this smaller customer, you come up with the most low-budget, band-aid-like approach...
And the customer still won't stop complaining about the money they're spending with your firm...
as if it were their LAST $250 to their name?!?
Then to make matters worse, that customer calls you six-weeks later, blaming you for "breaking" something in their office that had nothing to do with what you were working on over there.
What a pain in the butt!
Like it was their last stinkin' $250!
But you don't need to put up with that crap.
Once you have a roster of steady, high-paying clients.
You'll have the independence to be able to pick and choose among the best small business IT services accounts.
And you'll enjoy the pleasure of being able to say, "Sorry, we have a _______ minimum."
Or, "I'm SO sorry, but our first available appointment is on the 12th of ______ (never!)"
Either way, once you have enough steady, high-paying clients using your firm as their virtual IT department, AND a way to keep your sale funnel continually filled up, you'll be in an entirely different position.
And then, you can even roll your eyes (when they're not looking, of course) when you smell the profit-rotting stench of a customer that's acting "like it's their last $250"!
Best,
- Joshua
Joshua Feinberg, co-founder ComputerConsulting101.com
http://www.computerconsultingkit.com/
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