No customers, please review

[Nakin]

I started my business in the same period as you did, but on last year. I didn't get a phonecall during the first 5 monthes and felt really depressed and almost about to close my business. Anyway, I am from Paris, France, so, the rules could be a little bit different, but here are a few tips:

- Read Technibble's advices about advertising, it helped me a lot. So, browse the website, and find the right tips...
- Try to give flyers. The message must be clear, someone keeps a flyer less than 3 seconds in his hands. So it must be like "Your computer is sick? Call a doctor!! 50 $/hour" (this is just an example ). It helped a little bit to start, because I got a few phonecalls.
- Your website looks good, but there is too much blah blah and the phone number is too small. You must go straight to the point. Try to study what big concurents do on their website, you'll see the main "message" is clear and big. Don't hesitate to repeat your phone number a few times on the index page.
- Indeed, learning SEO is a big plus, but, on that point, patience is the key, and I guess you can't wait monthes for your business to start. You probably have mouthes to feed.
- Google Adwords is the right way to bring clients in the begining (and after ). Try it, you'll see, you'll get a phonecall in the next day. The key is to spend a good amount. I was greedy in the beginings, it didn't work, then, when I decided to spend 10 euros a day, with 3 euros maximum per click, my phone started to ring. This is a very good alternative when you're bad at SEO, like me.
Once your campain is started, you have to follow it, and to choose the right keywords, etc... Search on the web, you'll find good tips. Anyway, start with aautomatic settings, then, customize your campain with time (or the cost per click will grow up, and your wallet will be hurted ).

I hope my advices will help you. Good luck!!!

 

[RegEdit]

It takes like 5 years to get a computer repair biz off the ground if you don't have a physical storefront. Word of mouth takes a while. Starting out you will get about 1 job per month from customers who find you on the Internet searching for [city name] + computer repair. Then you gotta get listed in the yellow pages and have a phone that you actually answer (no voice mail). Leaving cards at stores that let people leave there cards will bring in some business too. Advertising in papers is a waste I think. Post cards were a break even venture for me.

 

[BDPCR]

In addition to what others have stated look here.

http://www.seocentro.com/tools/search-engines/metatag-analyzer.html

enter your url.
For SEO purposes your tittle is adequate, however your description and meta tags are lacking. You need to use a nice descriptive description with relevant keywords.

Your Tittle
Cerberus computer repair, laptop repair, virus removal, new vienna, Ohio 45159 937-5565-5338

Description (most search engines look at this and the title primarily) You need to specify location keywords there, such as local town and cities you service, zip and the big keywords... computer repair, computer repair services, laptop repair..... do not use filler words that are not relevant.

erberus LLC specializes in mobile computer design, upgrades and service to individuals and small to medium size businesses. We are second to none in I.T.

Meta tags!
pc design,upgrade,service

You have none practically, limit the characters to 500 or less. You can use my site as an example, ...very important all keywords and description words must be on the website several times for search engine optimization. Submit your url to all high end search engines. Google places and maps, yahoo search bing,..

 

[vdub12]

It takes like 5 years to get a computer repair biz off the ground if you don't have a physical storefront. Word of mouth takes a while. Starting out you will get about 1 job per month from customers who find you on the Internet searching for [city name] + computer repair. Then you gotta get listed in the yellow pages and have a phone that you actually answer (no voice mail). Leaving cards at stores that let people leave there cards will bring in some business too. Advertising in papers is a waste I think. Post cards were a break even venture for me.

Maybe I am just doing everything right or maybe just really lucky but i get an average of 4 or 5 jobs a week and I have only been in business for about 5 months.

I run adds in two separate news papers but one of them is a complete waste so far. I have done a lot of SEO work on my website and use adwords. So far all adwords has gotten me is people wanting to know if I buy/sell used computers but my organic searches have gotten some customers. I have also been able to get myself up to number one in Google local for most searches in the two county's I work in. I have a few fliers around town that have gotten me tons of business and one especially that brings in a few clients a week. I have also handed fliers out to businesses that gave me a great boost when I first started and a few very good customers. I plan to do this again soon with new fliers.

My goal is to be completely established in 2 to 3 years. I have tons of competition but many are pizza techs with a few real businesses. However from the feed back i get from clients good techs are hard to come by in my aria. I by no means talk down about any of my competition. I strive to provide fair prices with great customer service and turn around times. I stay up until 1:00 to 2:00 in the morning many nights just so I can get systems back by the next day. I am sure I will not be able to do this forever but as i get established I want to provide the best service as possible. I get some referrals but most customers are new customers. I have followed the guides on TN from the beginning and they have paid off. The only thing is I make almost as much now as I did when I worked a full time job but I put in enough hours to fill 2 full time jobs.

Its a ton of work but I love every second of it.

 

[3 More Years]

I can see you have had tons of feedback.

t says PC Design on your site. Are you designing PC's? I am assuming you repair and mainatain computers. Make it very obvious. Monitor how much traffic you are getting and from where. Google Analytics is a gooid start. Consider mixed marketing campaign, so a bit of seo, email marketing, leaflets, advertising etc.

...it's not easy. But if you are determined you can make it happen. Good luck.

 

[Cerberus LLC]

Thank you

In addition to what others have stated look here.

http://www.seocentro.com/tools/search-engines/metatag-analyzer.html

enter your url.
For SEO purposes your tittle is adequate, however your description and meta tags are lacking. You need to use a nice descriptive description with relevant keywords.

Your Tittle
Cerberus computer repair, laptop repair, virus removal, new vienna, Ohio 45159 937-5565-5338

Description (most search engines look at this and the title primarily) You need to specify location keywords there, such as local town and cities you service, zip and the big keywords... computer repair, computer repair services, laptop repair..... do not use filler words that are not relevant.

erberus LLC specializes in mobile computer design, upgrades and service to individuals and small to medium size businesses. We are second to none in I.T.

Meta tags!
pc design,upgrade,service

You have none practically, limit the characters to 500 or less. You can use my site as an example, ...very important all keywords and description words must be on the website several times for search engine optimization. Submit your url to all high end search engines. Google places and maps, yahoo search bing,..

Thank you for the information. I am becoming so worn out with trying to do everything. I don't even have the attention span to read a pdf file lol I'm trying to get so many things done I run out of time during the day. I'll get it though.

Do did I get the description almost right? What is a meta tag exactly? I'll keep looking.

Cheers!

 

[Cerberus LLC]

I will keep going

I can see you have had tons of feedback.

t says PC Design on your site. Are you designing PC's? I am assuming you repair and mainatain computers. Make it very obvious. Monitor how much traffic you are getting and from where. Google Analytics is a gooid start. Consider mixed marketing campaign, so a bit of seo, email marketing, leaflets, advertising etc.

...it's not easy. But if you are determined you can make it happen. Good luck.

Yes, the three core components are design, upgrading, and servicing (repairs). I have so much more work to do. lol

 

[Cerberus LLC]

Bought these to help no customers

Just wanted to show these and maybe give some other members an idea too. I bought a few of each from Staples and placed them in a few businesses around town. They look great. The large one has my letterhead it it. I haven't given that one out yet. I'm saving it for a big client. I'm replacing the letterhead obviously lol. I'll have services, etc. on printed bright white photo paper with my logo. It will be nice. I'm too picky for it to be anything less. The other is a current brochure I had printed up. What do you think?

 

[BDPCR]

Thank you for the information. I am becoming so worn out with trying to do everything. I don't even have the attention span to read a pdf file lol I'm trying to get so many things done I run out of time during the day. I'll get it though.

Do did I get the description almost right? What is a meta tag exactly? I'll keep looking.

Cheers!

Your page looks fantastic and eye catching don't stress that. Work a bit on your grammar like others have mentioned. If you are using a website template like i am, then it is as easy as opening the help link for the template. Look for the meta tag, meta description, and title in SEO options.

Read this article

http://www.evancarmichael.com/SEO/1242/Title-Tag-and-Meta-Description-Tag-Optimization.html

Don't feel overwhelmed take it bit by bit, i myself am new at this. If you are using HTML editors you have to modify the tag and description. Don't get lazy read the articles

http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/promotion/metatags.html

Look at the title, description and keywords of others that appear first in the google search results in your area.

such as for example "beverly hills computer repair" in google

http://www.seocentro.com/tools/search-engines/metatag-analyzer.html

Look at their meta descriptions, titles and keywords..this is in the order of importance. Once you have chosen good keywords relevant to your site and services you have to incorporate them into your website text. Do this and bring in enough quality inbound links and provide good content and you will rank high and bring in the customers. Once you have done the above things, consider google adwords and other PPC services. I try to rank high in google for my local town, so you can bet my city and county are incorporated into my keywords and description and throughout my body text. Such as "my town computer repair, my county computer repair". Whatever keywords i am not optimized in, i set a $10.00 a day max budget and i appear on adwords sponsored sites. I limit my PPC to $.50 -1.00, best of luck.

 

[Cerberus LLC]

Sweet

Your page looks fantastic and eye catching don't stress that. Work a bit on your grammar like others have mentioned. If you are using a website template like i am, then it is as easy as opening the help link for the template. Look for the meta tag, meta description, and title in SEO options.

Read this article

http://www.evancarmichael.com/SEO/1242/Title-Tag-and-Meta-Description-Tag-Optimization.html

Don't feel overwhelmed take it bit by bit, i myself am new at this. If you are using HTML editors you have to modify the tag and description. Don't get lazy read the articles

http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/promotion/metatags.html

Look at the title, description and keywords of others that appear first in the google search results in your area.

such as for example "beverly hills computer repair" in google

http://www.seocentro.com/tools/search-engines/metatag-analyzer.html

Look at their meta descriptions, titles and keywords..this is in the order of importance. Once you have chosen good keywords relevant to your site and services you have to incorporate them into your website text. Do this and bring in enough quality inbound links and provide good content and you will rank high and bring in the customers. Once you have done the above things, consider google adwords and other PPC services. I try to rank high in google for my local town, so you can bet my city and county are incorporated into my keywords and description and throughout my body text. Such as "my town computer repair, my county computer repair". Whatever keywords i am not optimized in, i set a $10.00 a day max budget and i appear on adwords sponsored sites. I limit my PPC to $.50 -1.00, best of luck.

Thank you sir. I'm reading up on SEO now.

 

[peetred]

That is my problem. I know little to nothing about SEO work. I have been listed but probably not very effectively. I don't have the money to hire an SEO expert at the moment. I guess it's time to learn to do so lol. Thank you very much for the website compliment and the advice.

Start with this:

http://www.localseoguide.com/how-to-do-local-seo-in-five-minutes-or-so/

You will be surprised what that will do for your google rankings and traffic.

- Google places and yahoo local listings are a big deal. Get listed and have a physical address on the listing so that you show up on the google map.

- Do some simple keyword research of what people search for in your area and add these keywords to your web page and listings.

 

[Cerberus LLC]

Thanks a million

Start with this:

http://www.localseoguide.com/how-to-do-local-seo-in-five-minutes-or-so/

You will be surprised what that will do for your google rankings and traffic.

- Google places and yahoo local listings are a big deal. Get listed and have a physical address on the listing so that you show up on the google map.

- Do some simple keyword research of what people search for in your area and add these keywords to your web page and listings.

Wow, impressive and easy to read. As soon as I get the time, I'm going to do everything this guys says lol. I love the step by step guides, they don't hurt my brain after 20 minutes of reading. Thanks again.

 

[kagman]

Looks like an interesting read. So for making a video, should I hire sexy models? I don't think people want to see me on camera lol....

 

[Cerberus LLC]

Nice idea

Looks like an interesting read. So for making a video, should I hire sexy models? I don't think people want to see me on camera lol....

Actually that is a very interesting idea. It wouldn't be the first time somebody has hired a cute girl for a sales position. Not being sexist either. You just gave me a great idea

 

[Cerberus LLC]

For those who have been following this thread

I have done it. I will have my store front (pics posted in thread) around the 2nd week of August. I'm nervous but excited. So many things running through my head. Sometime it's hard to focus on things because there is so much to be done. I'm not sure of the scope of this question but. Is there anybody within the forum that can do some pro bono or really cheap SEO work for me? I'm not getting it and I really need to focus on getting customers via face to face time and word of mouth. I realize how important SEO is, I just do not have the time. I have built something huge from the ground up and just need some help. As I have said. I really don't know what I'm asking or how big SEO work is. If there are any takers, please let me know here as I check it daily and try to keep others posted. Thank all of you for your great advice and I can't wait to return the favor.

 

[NWPhotog]

From the title of the thread I think you are getting way ahead of yourself. You get the customers first then add the infrastructure as absolutely needed. Time to hang back and regroup. 90% of this business is marketing and customer service. The tech side is less than 10%.

 

[Cerberus LLC]

Please reply

From the title of the thread I think you are getting way ahead of yourself. You get the customers first then add the infrastructure as absolutely needed. Time to hang back and regroup. 90% of this business is marketing and customer service. The tech side is less than 10%.

I have been putting this company together for over a year. I opened it officially after I had the infrastructure in place. I've been in I.T. for 21 years. I'm not a spring chicken lol. I wish I was but what can I do? I'm just asking for some SEO help if there is anybody available to help me. Why? Because I built a solid business and although I enjoy wearing many hats as President and CEO, I am only human and get tired from time to time. I am aware enough to know that I can not do everything and not everything I do is the best it can be.

Can you please elaborate on what you mean about me getting ahead of myself? I hate to say this but in my opinion there must be a framework in place before trying to take on customers. Just ask those within this forum who are waiting on Square to get their heads out of their rear ends lol. Looking back at successful companies such as Microsoft, Apple, and Dell, they created a business with an infrastructure in place then marketed themselves to capture their earnings today. I'm really tired now as it is 2:22 am so I may ramble.

How can you actually mean what you said? How do I get the customers first and then make the business as needed? That is amateur at best and not what a credible company is about. I'm not one to make rules and procedure up as I go. Only if I need to. I'm going to bed lol.

 

[kagman]

Actually Microsoft and Apple had no infrastructure when they first started out....lol. Hell not even Micheal Dell had the infrastructure in place back when he started building computers in his dorm room. lol

You are smart enough to know that it takes a very long time to get a business off the ground and have the customer base to support it.

Oh hire some hot sexy men and woman to hand out flyers, meet with people, do a commercial for you , etc etc. lol... Hell if some attractive person was handing out something for free or wanted a minute of my time i would pay attention Nothing wrong with some eye candy !!!!

 

[Hercomputers]

Oh hire some hot sexy men and woman to hand out flyers, meet with people, do a commercial for you , etc etc. lol... Hell if some attractive person was handing out something for free or wanted a minute of my time i would pay attention Nothing wrong with some eye candy !!!![/QUOTE]

LOL!!!!

 

[Cerberus LLC]

Lol

Actually Microsoft and Apple had no infrastructure when they first started out....lol. Hell not even Micheal Dell had the infrastructure in place back when he started building computers in his dorm room. lol

You are smart enough to know that it takes a very long time to get a business off the ground and have the customer base to support it.

Oh hire some hot sexy men and woman to hand out flyers, meet with people, do a commercial for you , etc etc. lol... Hell if some attractive person was handing out something for free or wanted a minute of my time i would pay attention Nothing wrong with some eye candy !!!!

ZOOM (Brian motions his hand over his head) Where's the love Jose? LOL I think I know what he meant to say. And I'm past the building computers in the dorm...and yes I did that too ha ha. Anyhow, I'll just keep plugging away as always. Did you hear anything more about the bobble heads kag? Oh wait! Topic. Ok. Any good places that you know of who does vinyl lettering and/or banner work for a good price? For the building of course