Ch-Ch-Changes

I'd like to share a story with you and I'm not looking for sympathy, but for your understanding and continued support.

I started my business "The Computer Guy" in 1996 with the main focus on the home computer user. As time went on and our name was given out here and there, I expanded to take care of some small business clients and national accounts through contract work. My business model was based on "Reliable Service / Reasonable Rates." I still strive for that today.

Over the past six months, I have continued to be as busy as can be on the road, servicing computers in homes and in businesses all over North Central Iowa, however, our business at the shop has slipped. Some would blame the economy, the election, the nay-sayers, the bad crops, or you name it -- people can blame anything on any situation.

Myself, I think people are just used to service when they want it and where they want it, people have migrated to tablets, some may have gone to other systems instead of getting their computers fixed by us, or in some (hopefully mild) cases have chosen a competitor over us. Whatever the situation, it has caused me to do some thinking about my business plan and what is best for the business.

What I have come up with will shock some people or make people scratch their heads a bit. However, as of October 20th, I am moving my business BACK to my home. I want to be as mobile as I can be in serving my customers with "Reliable Service, with Reasonable Rates."

The decision involved many people and I thank them for all of their support. I'm NOT going out of business, just refocusing it a bit. Kirt, Bob and Becky will still be doing some work for me on the road and our phone number will still ring to my phone.

I've enjoyed being downtown for the last 3 years, but it's just time for a change and I think this will be a positive one for my business and my customers. My customers are the best and I can't wait to continue to serve them!

It's Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day!!! 

 

In our business, labor is a big deal.  I would be ignorant if I didn't recognize a few people in my life and business who help me out, by laboring over computers and working for me day in and day out.

 

Kirt Snook is my right hand and was onboard at the shop from Day 1.  He's someone I had worked with at Midwest Wireless and I told him that if I ever started out on my own and had a shop, he'd be the one I'd call first, and I'm glad he answered the call.

 

Bob Barnes is my part time employee.  Bob does a lot of things and is pretty darn handy at all of them.  Computer repairman, limo driver, bus driver, Advocare Sales Champ and all around good guy.  He's as easy going as they get and I wish that would rub off on me.

 

Becky Palmer is of course my wife and has more faith in me than any human should.  She works the shop for me when I'm on the road on a Saturday, does some remote repair work and mainly is my #1 Fan.  You need one of those in your life, I'm glad I have her in mine.

 

Deb Keller is a free spirit who makes great banana bread and other home made treats.  She works on the rare occasions that the rest of us are out of the shop.  Her phone messages are works of art and epic novels.  Details, details, details!!

 

Mary Hanson is a school teacher who filled in a lot this summer when I was on the road and when Kirt was off.  If you follow me on Pinterest, you are pretty much following Mary -- as she is my Pinterest Guru who knows what foods NOT to pin to my page. 

 

I owe these folks a nice round of applause....

One Weird Day!

It was a normal Wednesday...so I thought.  It started out early in the wee hours of the morning, as it usually does with me Googling some things.  Stupid things, mostly. 

What I was wondering was how do other businesses named "The Computer Guy" market their products or services.  SO, I searched the "Images" section of Google.  Naturally, my logo came up several times from my website, along with other logos of other businesses named, "The Computer Guy."  Until......my eyes caught a logo that I had used on my OLD website and current brochure attached to a bunch of text with a California phone number.  SOMEONE had used MY copyrighted logo to promote THEIR business.

Naturally, I was upset, so I fired off an email to him and posted on that sight that he would need to remove it.  THEN upon posting this on Facebook, a friend in Idaho told me that a library in Ohio was promoting some Computer Guy with MY logo.  I called the library and in a matter of minutes, it was down.  They were truly ashamed of what had happened.

THEN, reports from Facebook started to roll in.  A guy in Utah, a company in Malaysia, Spain, etc were coming to me.  A total of 9 in all.  I contacted as many as I could and so far 3 of the 9 have done the right thing.  I'll give the rest of them a week, then we'll go from there.

NEXT, I got a strange call at work.  "Pat Palmer, this is Tony and I need your email address."  I didn't know the phone number, but Googled it and it was from North Carolina.  In 10 minutes, I got an email with a video attached that said, "Your Twin."  I opened it up and some guy, who looked a LOT like me was telling me that people were mistaking him for me on YouTube doing a Bobby Darin song.  Odd, for sure!  I emailed the guy back, and it bounced.  SO, I texted him and he sent his correct email and I replied back and said that I enjoyed the video and would do one in the next couple of days for him. 

I posted that on Facebook and my friends had a field day. 

Like I said...it was one weird day!

Happy Anniversary to The Computer Guy!!

Well in all of the excitement of the 4th of July last week, I forgot to mention the 1st of July in my "The Monday Morning Memo"

The 1st of July was our 3rd anniversary at our Downtown Hampton location!!! Many thanks goes out to many people who have been supportive of our efforts. I am very appreciative to all who have done business with us.

In this weird economy, up and down gas prices and the age of "faster and cheaper" computer repairs -- I am grateful for your support. I keep track of people and companies in a 45 mile radius of Hampton who do computer repair. Some of these people are in storefronts like mine and some are out of their homes. Some have the training, background, certifications and insurance -- and some, well, don't. As a matter of fact, there are roughly 70 places in and around Hampton in that 45 mile circle that do computer repair. We feel that we can provide the best solution to your computer issues that's not only fair to you, but to us as well.

Do we make mistakes? YES.

Do we own them and try to do what's right? YES.

There's no other way to say how much we value you as a customer, other than, "We value you as our customer."

Stay cool and have a fantastic week!

Facebook & You -- After Death

What happens to your Facebook Account when you die?

Since I've been on Facebook (around 2007) I have had a number of friends pass away.  Naturally, it is sad and I read their wall to see what has been posted, but out of respect, I delete their profile as I do not want any of my stuff to show up on their wall like they are still alive or be alerted that they want to be my friend -- after I know they've passed on.

SO, I did find an article on the topic, but to summarize it there are several things that can be done.

1. Nothing.  Now, with this being said, it's a poor choice.  People who were not friends with them on Facebook who may have friends in common with them will have them constantly showing up in the "Joe wants to be friends" column of your page.  Awkward, at best.  Creepy, at worst.

2. Contact Facebook To Have Their Page Removed.  You naturally have to provide some documents, but this would be one way to do it so that it is completely removed and has no way to be re-activated....or resurrected, if you will.

3. Memorialize The Page.  I've seen this a lot with young people who have been killed in car accidents or who tragically die way before their time.  People can leave tributes on their wall and a lot of nice things are said.  This would be nice to read about for a grieving family and DOES give some family members administrative control as to what is posted and can delete posts.  It also removes some personal info from the account as well.

Even though you may not think you are going to die tomorrow, what would you want your loved ones to do???  Now that we are fully immersed into the digital age, a decision like this may be as valid as what songs are sung at your funeral or what you want on your headstone.  Anyway, something to think about.

Here's the link, for more information:

http://www.thedigitalbeyond.com/2012/02/what-happens-to-your-facebook-account-when-you-die/

Good luck!

Big vs. Little

There are a lot of On-Line companies who will try to lure you into "click here to fix your computer" or other such gimmicks. Other companies are reputable, but just charge way too much. I do contract work for some of these companies. For example, Wednesday, I had to do a virus removal for a gal from Webster City. She paid some company around $200 to remove a virus and I was the guy dispatched to do the job. I was there about an hour and a half, did what the work order said, but that was it. There were no extras. No hardware assessment or additional checks or cleanup -- just remove the virus and leave. She has already prepaid the fee, so I wasn't there to collect any money.

Now, had she taken the time to Google a LOCAL computer repair company, my name would have come up. Maybe I wouldn't have been at the top of the list, but she wouldn't have had to pay that amount of money and her service would have been better. As a contracted tech, if you don't follow the work order, or are there longer than what they want, you get docked in pay. My point is, when I serve a greater amount of a 9 county area, PLUS I also offer remote repair, The Computer Guy would have been a better and cheaper alternative.

In addition, we could have offered her our warranty package that would have fixed her bad USB ports and defective DVD-Rom drive.

It's just another example of how, in some cases, smaller may be better.  Think about that the next time you pass up a local business for something you find online.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Earlier this week, I got a call on my cellphone from someone with a badly broken Indian accent who claimed he was from Microsoft and could fix the issues I was having with my computer.  Funny thing, at the time, I WAS having issues with a computer.

Now, out of the MILLIONS and MILLIONS of customers that Microsoft has, why did they call me?  I have no answer, but they've been calling a LOT of people in Northern Iowa lately and tricking them into doing damage to their computers.

It starts off with this sympathetic (or pathetic) person concerned about my computer, then they want to install some monitor software like TeamViewer on it, so they can take control of the computer.  Then they want to open up the Command Prompt so they can do more damage by "inspecting" the computer.

It was at this point, I used some very colorful language at this person then hung up.  I really should have stayed on the line to hear the whole thing and find out what exactly they were going to do.  Some techs have told me they get into the computer registry and start a bunch of RUN commands....Very bad.

One lady who had this issue is now getting abusive calls at 3am demanding money.  Sad.

Again, if it's too good to be true, it is...they want your credit card info and PLEASE don't give it to them!!  Be safe, call The Computer Guy if you have issues -- we'll solve the problem and we won't call you back at 3am!