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ForumsA few posts ago I wrote about spotting advertising opportunities. In this short article I will talk about spotting little tidbits of income you could be making, its nothing that will replace your core business with computers, but creating a little bit on the side.
My three favorite tidbits of income are:
If you are the type of technician who sets up internet connections for clients, why not sign up for an ISP affiliate program? Most major internet service providers have a program you can join that will pay you a commission for every successful yearly signup you send to them. With some providers, this can be up to $100. Call the sales department of your favorite ISP, tell them you are a computer technician and that you would love to send them more customers but want to know if they have an affiliate program.
Pickup, Dropoff and Plug in
If you are not busy or just starting out, why not offer to pickup, drop off and plug in a clients computer for a fee? In my experience most clients are afraid to unplug their computers because they fear that they wont be able to plug it all back in properly, or they simply don’t have the time to bring it to you. To prevent you having to go to the other side of town for a low fee, set up “zones” with different prices based on how far they are from your base location.
Priority Repairs
Last but not least as this one is my personal favorite. Priority Repairs; if you have a client is desperate to have a fast turnaround but you are too busy to be able to do so, instead of turning them away or telling them that you wont be able to get onto it until tomorrow. Tell them that you can push them to the front of the line for $XX extra. If they are desperate, chances are they will take you up on this offer.
These four fall more into the realm of upselling than tidbits of income, but are worth mentioning anyway:
- Computer Tuneups – Disable unneeded services at bootup, uninstall unused programs, clear temp folders
- Backup to CD/DVD services
- Teaching – How to email, download digital photos, scan, print, introduction to Windows Vista etc..
- Security Package – Install Antivirus, Windows Updates, Firewall and show them how to avoid nasties.
As I mentioned in our spotting advertising opportunities article, there is plenty that you can be doing, you just need to keep your eyes open for opportunities and see what works for your business.
Hi. Some good points!
I have found another tidbit that I discovered in my Computer Repair in the Baltimore Maryland area. I sell my clients the printer cartridges they need. Not a huge profit to be sure, but if they can buy from me at the same price as the Office Supply store, why not.
I also sell common software such as Anti-virus and Anti-spyware. Again, no big profits, but if they need it, why not buy from their friendly local pc repair guy rather than the big box store.
Affiliate marketing is a wonderful way to generate money and be your own boss, putting your skills and creative knowledge to work for you and not others, even so affiliate marketing does require work and time. You need to build it up like any other business.|By far the biggest reason why people do not succeed in the online business it’s because they never develop a business mindset. In order to be successful one has to be able to commit to a program, products and strategy until one achieve success. What occurs in reality is that people bail out at the first sign of an obstacle.