On the verge of giving up

Not only are your prices currently low but you also offer a further discount if they drop it off! That just screams low quality workmanship to me ...

I charge £25/h at the moment but I'm seriously tempted to go in at £30 in the next month or so (I live in a low wage area). Honestly, try hiking up your prices a tad :)
 
First off, I hate to hear about the struggles - times are indeed tough all the way around.

My $0.02 worth on this: When I started, I had no money for advertising so I literally went door-to-door for a few weeks. Each week I would target a different class of customer, i.e. lawyers one week, doctors one week, graphic artists another week. It is pain in the ass, but people are receptive to it as they appreciate "hard workers". Plus, since I work independently, they were able to meet me, they guy that actually does the work. Putting a face to a client is worth its weight in gold.
 
Simmy said:
You say you've tried all the suggestions so far, but the biggest one you've ignored is raising your prices! Even I've suggested it at least 4 or 5 times.

Also, I don't do any advertising anymore as google brings in all of my work. I don't appear to be able to find you under "leicester pc repair" or similar keywords though? Work on your website as that will bring you the most work in the long run.
Click to expand...

I have to admit I'm not sure about ad words, is that what you use ? also I will raise my prices but I hate to bother Ona with more freebies since she has done soo much for me as it is :rolleyes:
 
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No not adwords, just the natural google results.

If you've got the ftp username and password, take some time to change the website yourself. It's easy to learn.
 
Simmy said:
No not adwords, just the natural google results.

If you've got the ftp username and password, take some time to change the website yourself. It's easy to learn.
Click to expand...

oh yeah i can modify the keywords thats not a problem :) last time i did that was month's ago but I suppose submitting it to search engines again wouldn't hurt aswell.
 
resubmitting it to search engines won't make a difference. Google is the main one and that has already indexed you. Concentrate on adding as much content as you can muster, validating the html/css and getting your keywords/description sorted out.
 
I honestly think in this economic climate you have a tough chance of succeeding even if you ARE good at web marketing, being organized , and don't have any sticks in your wheels, so to speak, like not being able to drive. I think if what you love to do is fix computers, go work for a computer store that has a good reputation. They'll take care of everything else, and you can focus on making people happy with their pc. Consider just doing your own clients on the side at night. BUT PLEASE TRIPLE YOUR RATES!!!
 
You can do what everyone said . . . .RAISE YOUR PRICES

You can also do what I did. I got very slow for me and I was just starting out with my business. I had no money for advertising. I had to go back to the corporate world. I still get calls and I tell them I can come over after 5pm. If they can't wait I refer them to my buddy. My buddy and I refer people to each other.

Once I feel the economy is better and if I quit or get fired etc, I can fall back on my business and since I have already been working it I will be much easier to pick up from where I left off.
 
Sorry to hear all your troubles, - I know that men are naturally competitive, but if you would like a females opinion ...... the suggestion of others to go visit the tech who charges 30 pound and lives near you. Perhaps after meeting and see what you think of each other you could join together and offer your services as a team. Two heads are better than one - he may be able to provide the transport side of things and your joint experience bouncing off each other is always a plus. You could still keep your individual business names and come up with another joint business name to boot and get custom from all three avenues.

It may help with customer image as well, as its always impressive to pay for the services of "our qualified team". It sounds professional, and more established than a one man show. I live in the bush and if I had another tech within cooee I would be in like flynn ..... good luck
 
I echo what pretty much everyone else said.

You really might want to think about picking up a day job and than working your PC repair after. 1 to 2 jobs a month seems to me even kinda slow for side work. But that day job will give you that extra financial backing you need to keep you sane.

These are tough times man. Living in Michigan i have been feeling the hit for a few years now.
 
As everyone said raise your prices. Think about it would you want a mechanic working on your brakes for $20hr or a mechanic working on your brakes for $60hr? Remember the saying...you get what you paid for, that's how most people look at things and if they see you charging $20/hr they are going to think something is wrong and go else where. Also I get most of my business online too...big mistake assuming people don't search online for computer repair.
 
People no longer only have one computer in their house. They get online at work and their cell phones can even get online. There are plenty of ways for them to look you up online when their computer is broken.
 
You have to get a website and work on SEO. I started in January and missed out on being in the phonebook this year. I did flyers, Craigslist, dropped biz cards, put up a very simple website, and did a small advert in the newspaper recently. Got nothing from the newspaper at all. Craigslist brought me nothing but junk email. Probably 85% of my clients called me because they saw me on Google Maps and Yahoo local and went to my website. If you have a lot of competition ask some of your clients to put up a review for you. I have had many clients tell me that they chose me because of some nice reviews on yahoo and I only have like 3 of them. I have decided to give up on printed ads for the most part and focus on web presence and putting a decent ad in the phonebook.
 
Changes made to website

I've made some changes to my website.

Keywords Have been changed or added I've also changed the title description to a more business like kind of wording. Meta description has also been changed to include the phone number.

I've also increased the prices on the website to £25 per hour (still too low ? please let me know)

I've submitted it again to google to allow them to index it. when it comes to websites and search engines i'm a complete novice but I hope in time people will be able to find me on google :)
 
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Andyuk2007 said:
I've submitted it again to google to allow them to index it.
Click to expand...
Simmy said:
resubmitting it to search engines won't make a difference.
Click to expand...

I am sorry to sound so harsh but you must be realistic. If you are only getting 2 jobs a month that's only £40-£50 per month. How can you even live?

How long have you been in business now? You say you have exhausted various advertising revenues. You must of made some fundamental mistakes to have such a low work load.

I just pulled up my accounts from my first month and I think I generated around 10 call outs that month. I was 18 and didn't have a clue about running a business or such. Made loads of mistakes, had no idea about optimising my adverts etc. but still got those calls in.

I am trying to figure out where you are going wrong but I don't think there is one reason. I think something larger is a miss here. Do you have any ideas what it could be?
 
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Tesla said:
I am sorry to sound so harsh but you must be realistic. If you are only getting 2 jobs a month that's only £40-£50 per month. How can you even live?

How long have you been in business now? You say you have exhausted various advertising revenues. You must of made some fundamental mistakes to have such a low work load.

I just pulled up my accounts from my first month and I think I generated around 10 call outs that month. I was 18 and didn't have a clue about running a business or such. Made loads of mistakes, had no idea about optimising my adverts etc. but still got those calls in.

I am trying to figure out where you are going wrong but I don't think there is one reason. I think something larger is a miss here. Do you have any ideas what it could be?
Click to expand...

Well I set up the business 18 months ago at the start I was doing well but this was before the recession, I had around 2 call outs a week to begin with this enabled me to have a part time income.

My adverts were very basic and looked a bit shabby to begin with but over time i had some professional adverts made and kept up with my advertising in a few magazines and local shops.

Steadly though i noticed a decline in call outs although this was not due to my adverts atleast i hope not.
 
OK, I understand that your morale must be low but you really need to pick yourself up since when working for yourself nobody else will!

Lets take a look at this month.

Have you had any work come in?
What business activities have you done? What marketing?

How about this week?
Have you had an enquries? What have you been up to yesterday and today?
 
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