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201. | IT Consulting: Steps to a Gradual Business Launch
In IT consulting, you need a step-by-step plan to launch your practice. There are 21 steps that will take you through the first 90 days of beginning your IT consulting business.
Preparing for your gradual launch will lower the risk associated with starting ...
[Added: 15 Jun 2006 Hits: 294 Words: 447]
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202. | IT Consulting: Seasonal Selling Trends
In IT consulting, you should be aware of your seasonal selling trends. The general rule of advice is don't expect anyone to make a major buying decision for a small business IT project in the late summer or during ...
[Added: 14 Jun 2006 Hits: 253 Words: 342]
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203. | Handheld Devices: Client Security and Connectivity Issues
Because many handheld devices or PDAs have the ability to connect to your clients' LANs (either directly or indirectly), you need to consider PDA remote access, just as you would any other remote device, such as an employee's home computer or a company-owned ...
[Added: 14 Jun 2006 Hits: 924 Words: 328]
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204. | Network Cabling: Available Options
As their IT consultant, your small business prospects and clients will need you to explain the different network cabling options available to them.
Traditional Wired Ethernet (Category 5)
Until very recently, Category 5 data cabling was the de facto standard for both enterprise and small ...
[Added: 14 Jun 2006 Hits: 274 Words: 465]
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205. | Networking Terms: Educating the Client
It is very important to educate your small business prospects and clients on key small business networking terms and buzzwords. After all, in order to "win them over," you need to be speaking the same language. In fact, you ...
[Added: 14 Jun 2006 Hits: 851 Words: 396]
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206. | Small Business Networking: Suggesting Dedicated Servers to Clients
PC-based servers and LANs may be relatively mature technologies. However, small businesses need your firm's expertise, more than ever. For these businesses, you'll need to select, configure, customize, secure and maintain the right small business networking tools for their unique needs.
Real Small Business Networking Solutions ...
[Added: 13 Jun 2006 Hits: 646 Words: 356]
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207. | IT Support: Setting Rates
With setting your IT support rates, there is no ethical dilemmas. You need to charge what is going to make you have a successful, viable business. You are not going to make a living at $50 an hour. It's that simple.
Many ...
[Added: 13 Jun 2006 Hits: 191 Words: 387]
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208. | Small Business Computer Consulting: Appropriately Setting Your Rates
In small business computer consulting, $100 an hour can be a reasonable and livable rate. Why can setting your rates at $100 an hour make all the difference in the world?
Take the ...
[Added: 09 Jun 2006 Hits: 202 Words: 367]
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209. | The IT Consultant: Considering the Costs of Downtime
There's nothing more stressful for IT consultants than getting the dreaded emergency call from a client whose office is "crippled" because of a major systems outage.
If you've been an IT consultant a while you know the harsh realities of small business technology adoption. Your clients demand ...
[Added: 09 Jun 2006 Hits: 216 Words: 348]
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210. | IT Consulting: Avoid Freebie Mooching Sessions
In starting an IT consulting business, make sure you avoid extended "freebie mooching sessions" disguised as sales calls. Make sure you're not there for endless hours of brain-picking that's leading nowhere.
You need to know exactly which kinds of prospects ...
[Added: 07 Jun 2006 Hits: 244 Words: 335]
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211. | IT Consulting: Considering the Hidden Costs of a Start-Up
In IT consulting, what does a $75 an hour consulting business equate to in the long run? What happens if your rate structure extends beyond that?
If you keep carrying something like a $75 ...
[Added: 07 Jun 2006 Hits: 254 Words: 364]
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212. | IT Consulting: Generate Income in the Beginning
If you are starting your own IT consulting business, you need to be generating demand, getting good leads and prospects, qualifying them, going out on sales appointments and following up on those.
Do not get seduced by an ...
[Added: 07 Jun 2006 Hits: 268 Words: 369]
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213. | IT Consultant: Is Your Personality Up to Par?
Can you strike up a conversation with a stranger? Do you wake up on the right side of the bed every morning? Do you show up on time? All these variables will be important in your success as an ...
[Added: 07 Jun 2006 Hits: 274 Words: 408]
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214. | IT Consultant: Personality Traits for Success
IT consultant skills vary widely. The successful ones will have the traits that help them deal with their customers.
IT Consultant Traits: Can You Manage Employees?
Even in your first year of business ...
[Added: 03 Jun 2006 Hits: 287 Words: 341]
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215. | IT Consulting Career: Making the Leap to Full-Time
How do you know it's a good time to leave your current full time employment and launch into a full-time IT consulting career? Start now.
We have broken down the process into 21 steps that will take you over about 90 ...
[Added: 03 Jun 2006 Hits: 302 Words: 385]
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216. | IT Consulting: Determining Your Rates as a Start-up
In IT consulting, people charge various rates. Some charge at the zero level, others at the $25, $35, $45 an hour level.
Starting an IT Consulting Business: What to Charge?
Probably a lot of you want to start ...
[Added: 03 Jun 2006 Hits: 188 Words: 331]
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217. | IT Support: Where Do Sweet Spot Businesses Get Theirs?
Sweet spot small businesses, have from 10-50 PCs and do anywhere from a million to 10 million in annual revenue (U.S. Dollars). They get their IT support in several different places, which you'll learn about in this article.
Sweet spot businesses have their internal gurus. Remember ...
[Added: 03 Jun 2006 Hits: 210 Words: 317]
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218. | IT Consultant: Personality Trait Evaluation
In addition to knowing the difference between a lan and a laptop, to be a successful IT consultant, you need to have the personality traits that will permit you to work well with your clients, employees and vendors. Read on to evaluate ...
[Added: 02 Jun 2006 Hits: 331 Words: 370]
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219. | IT Consulting Career: Steps to Take Before Opening Your Doors
You need to prepare for your IT consulting career. In this article, you'll learn about whether business plans, certifications, and ficticious names are important for an IT consulting career.
Is Certifiation Necessary for an IT Consulting Career
Generally, with small businesses, ...
[Added: 02 Jun 2006 Hits: 211 Words: 342]
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220. | Computer Consulting Business: Know about Vendor Hard Drive Replacement
Many of your computer consulting business clients will come from non-technical, business backgrounds. As a result, many will not immediately grasp why a failed hard drive cannot "simply" be replaced by a new or refurbished hard drive.
As part ...
[Added: 02 Jun 2006 Hits: 213 Words: 482]
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221. | Computer Consulting Business: Hardware Warranty Services
As a computer consulting business, you shouldn't be spending precious time and your clients' limited budgets troubleshooting a malfunctioning monitor or CD-RW drive.
If your computer consulting business is large enough that you have both senior-level and technician-level staff, you're probably already doing a great job of directing ...
[Added: 01 Jun 2006 Hits: 319 Words: 344]
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222. | Computer Consulting Business: Nail Down the Vendor Support Options
No computer consulting business can afford to be sitting at a client site, running up a big bill, staring at a blue-screen-of-death, facing an angry mob of irate users and sitting on hold for two hours with tech support.
This scenario ...
[Added: 31 May 2006 Hits: 298 Words: 367]
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223. | IT Support: Where Do Micro Small Businesses Get Theirs?
Before you even print up your business card or pick your company name, you need to know where you fit into the whole competitive marketplace of IT support. You don't want to make a lot of expensive mistakes so you don't take up a lot of money and time to ...
[Added: 31 May 2006 Hits: 220 Words: 342]
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224. | PC Purchases: The Benefits of Adding CD-RW Drives
Regardless of whether your clients are considering PC purchases of desktops or notebooks, they need to consider compatibility issues with a CD-RW drive, the accompanying operating system and other hardware components.
With a notebook, you're generally restricted to proprietary parts that only work with a ...
[Added: 31 May 2006 Hits: 232 Words: 331]
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225. | IT Consultants: Finding Ideal Moonlighting Clients
As IT consultants considering moonlighting as a step toward full-time consulting work, you should not be messing around with anything but steady clients.
If you're just dealing with the one-shot deals that you hear from once in a blue ...
[Added: 31 May 2006 Hits: 264 Words: 362]
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226. | Computer Consultant Startup: Identify Your Business Skills
Since you're taking the time to read this article right now, it's a good sign that you have what it takes to become a computer consultant. You're in the small minority of people who have recognized that this is ...
[Added: 30 May 2006 Hits: 311 Words: 402]
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227. | IT Consulting: What Non-IT Skills Do You Need?
IT consulting is more than just knowing all about laptops and servers. To be successful, you need to have business skills, too. This article will give you some examples of skills you need for your IT consulting business.
...
[Added: 25 May 2006 Hits: 294 Words: 357]
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228. | IT Spending: Your Clients' Purchases Require Planning
You need to be the voice of reason when it comes to the IT spending habits of your clients. You may encounter a "use it or lose it" mentality, or your clients may want compress all of their PC-related ...
[Added: 22 May 2006 Hits: 216 Words: 338]
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229. | IT Spending: Putting a Budget Surplus to Good Use
If you sell to government, non-profit or educational accounts, your firm may be accustomed to managing this next challenge. But, if sales to small businesses are your bread and butter, you may not as tuned into the "use it or lose it" purchasing philosophy in IT spending.
...
[Added: 21 May 2006 Hits: 225 Words: 329]
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230. | PC Hardware: How Ego Can Cost Your Clients
Your clients might be tempted to outfit their top managers and producers with the latest and greatest PC hardware. After all, a CFO or senior account manager has a tremendous amount riding on his or her daily performance and ...
[Added: 21 May 2006 Hits: 324 Words: 398]
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231. | Small Business IT Consulting: The Micro Small Business Environment
One hard to target market for small business IT consulting is the "micro-small businesses"; those that have a single-digit number of PC's - anywhere from one to nine PC's. These micro-small businesses can provide, depending on the metro area where you're located, $50 to $75 ...
[Added: 20 May 2006 Hits: 222 Words: 387]
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232. | IT Consultants: Don't Skimp on Hardware with Power Users
As IT consultants, whatever you do, don't let your clients skimp on PC purchases for power users who run high-end software.
While many of your small business clients' employees depend mainly on software with modest hardware requirements, such as basic ...
[Added: 19 May 2006 Hits: 292 Words: 408]
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233. | IT Consultants: Save Your Clients from Themselves
As professional IT consultants, don't let your clients be the first on the block to buy something new, unless they have a really good reason and can cost-justify the bleeding-edge purchases.
"Latest and Greatest" Isn't Always the Best Choice
While buying the ...
[Added: 19 May 2006 Hits: 214 Words: 329]
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234. | IT Consultants: Desktops, Notebooks and PDAs as Profit Centers
If you're one of those IT consultants who breaks out in hives at the thought of getting your hands dirty with low-margin sales of desktop PCs, notebooks or PDAs, you may not be looking far enough beyond the ...
[Added: 19 May 2006 Hits: 222 Words: 336]
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235. | IT Consulting: The Sweet Spot
The sweet spot of the IT consulting business requires more skills than needed for micro business IT consulting. Sweet spot companies have anywhere from 10-50 computers. This level of business is where you should be focusing most of ...
[Added: 19 May 2006 Hits: 294 Words: 405]
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236. | Computer Consulting: Diversify Your Clients
Make sure that you never get to the point that any one computer consulting client has control over you. None of them should have such supreme leverage over you that you couldn't afford to either lose them because of something that's either out of your control or because ...
[Added: 18 May 2006 Hits: 205 Words: 364]
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237. | Computer Consulting: 3 Questions To Ask Your Clients
From a customer service perspective, you can ask your computer consulting clients three questions that will explode the growth of your company.
Question Number One:
"How Can We Improve the Level of Service That We Provide Your Company?"
Ask your computer consulting clients this question on ...
[Added: 18 May 2006 Hits: 224 Words: 399]
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238. | IT Consulting in Micro Small Businesses
Small business is a hot market for IT consulting. There are different sizes of small businesses and they all have different IT consulting needs. In this article you'll learn some items you should be familiar with in order to provide IT consulting to these businesses.
Micro ...
[Added: 18 May 2006 Hits: 256 Words: 368]
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239. | IT Consulting for Micro Businesses: What You Need to Know
IT consulting for micro businesses is a good starting point for many IT professionals. In addition to the general hardware and software, and peer-to peer networking, you'll need to be familiar with some additional items. In this article, you'll learn what other skills you need for micro business IT ...
[Added: 18 May 2006 Hits: 266 Words: 350]
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240. | Computer Consulting: Balancing Your Portfolio
Do you have a balanced portfolio in your computer consulting business? Target 70% of your businesses in the small business state.
Keep a small amount of your business dealing with home networks and the consumer side and then have 5-15% of your business with much larger businesses. ...
[Added: 17 May 2006 Hits: 272 Words: 432]
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241. | Computer Consultant Skills: Can You Be Your Own Boss?
If you're just getting started, what do you need to know about the business aspects of being their own boss? It really boils down to two very straightforward things. You need to have some basic business skills and ...
[Added: 17 May 2006 Hits: 273 Words: 394]
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242. | Computer Consultant 101: How to Build a Stable Business
Know How To Bill and What to Charge
Without knowing how to bill and what to charge, you're going to lose a lot of money that's really yours. If you get your billing and pricing wrong as a computer consultant, you'll send a bad message to people that you're ...
[Added: 17 May 2006 Hits: 225 Words: 392]
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243. | Computer Consulting: Use Your Time Wisely
Time is money. If you're not careful in your computer consulting business, you'll waste both. With a little discipline and structure, you can maximize the return on your time.
Journal Your Time
One way ...
[Added: 12 May 2006 Hits: 196 Words: 447]
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244. | Computer Consulting: Some General Tips
To run a successful computer consulting practice, you need to be able to deliver on that end-to-end solution. Have a good service agreement ready to go. Have an IT audit checklist. Have partnering agreements. Be prepared to take your clients from the beginning ...
[Added: 12 May 2006 Hits: 244 Words: 429]
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245. | Partnering: Does It Make Sense For Your Project?
Partnering is ideal for when you come across projects that you can't complete yourself. First you need to decide if the project is a good fit for you based on how much of it you're ...
[Added: 11 May 2006 Hits: 259 Words: 476]
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246. | Small Business Insurance: Do You and Your Subcontractors Need It?
Of course, you need to check with an accountant or lawyer for specific information, but in this article, you'll learn what small business insurance has worked for our computer consultants and customers in the past.
What Type of Small Business Insurance Do You Need?
...
[Added: 11 May 2006 Hits: 252 Words: 330]
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247. | Partnering: Dealing with Clients Beyond Your Expertise
At some point you're going to need to develop partnering relationships with other non-competing complementary tech providers in your area for partnering and subcontracting type of work. That way you can meet the needs of your clients for many different types of projects.
Partnering- How To Be The ...
[Added: 09 May 2006 Hits: 280 Words: 363]
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248. | Computer Consultant Skills: Do You Have to Have 20 Certifications?
I've had more than one person tell me, "Well, I'm a MCP or I'm a CNA and I've got this one cert but I'm working on like 15 more certs and as soon as I get my 19th cert, five years from now, I'll be all set to ...
[Added: 09 May 2006 Hits: 256 Words: 412]
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249. | Computer Consultant Startup: What's The First Step?
If you're the typical person who's considering becoming a computer consultant, then you are probably a LAN administrator, doing some kind of PC support job for big enterprise or maybe even working for a smaller integrator. In ...
[Added: 09 May 2006 Hits: 191 Words: 447]
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250. | Partnering: Joining a Formal Partner Program
Formal partnering programs. They can be good, bad, and indifferent. They just aren't that huge. In this day and age, most people aren't choosing to join partner programs just based on the benefits that they looked for 10 years ago.
Formal Partnering Programs ...
[Added: 08 May 2006 Hits: 290 Words: 340]
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