Setting Limits I do alot of websites for businesses and typically the process is pretty simple. Meet with the customer go over what it is they are looking for and go from there. I will tell them that I will build a page or two in order for them to see the direciton it is going in and then if they approve that i'll build the rest of the site. Seems pretty smooth....But, I found myself in a situation recently where I followed the same steps as always and then the customer decided they wanted the layout changed completely. Needless to say not a happy camper. We went back and forth about a few things but in the end I decided "fine i'll change it all"....Well once that was done then it was a matter of changing the colors four times and [+]

By Derek R. Iannelli-Smith, ACRBO Member, IT Strategist for Progressive Integrations, Inc., Recently I had a client that had a SBS2003 environment and desired to upgrade to SBS 2008. As we all know there is not an upgrade path, so welcome to migration. Upon doing extensive research, I became aware of MVP Jeff Middleton, and was even told about him from Microsoft personnel through the Partner Network. Everyone gave MVP Jeff Middleton kudos and talked about him being the one who could do a migration the best – even better than Microsoft! So on 16 Dec 2010, I called him figuring that a project deadline of 31 Jan 11 would be enough time and I needed a fast answer. I spoke with him for about 30 minutes; I asked very specific questions; 1. What is the success rate? 2. Can this be done without [+]

If you have thought about joining Service Magic think hard.... I joined some time ago because I had heard of them, knew other businesses outside the computer repair industry that used them and everything seemed to be good to go. But, I did hear bad things also but I always try to look at the good side until I find out otherwise.... Well, I found out otherwise....First, you really have to monitor what you are doing with a thing called "Direct Leads" which is where customers supposedly ask specifically for your services. For this "Direct Lead" you will pay $X for the lead. A few months ago I received one of these leads and it was from a business that supposedly wanted our services. Now my services are suppose to be "computer repair" which does not take a genius to figure out [+]

It's already happening: people are going to your website from their phones. What do they see?? Does it load? How long does it take? Can they find information easily? What does it look like on an iPhone? A Blackberry? The Motorola Razor? Remember most of these people that are using their mobile device do not have time to "zoom" in on the screen to read your website. The website needs to be easily read with no effort. • There are over 3.4 Billion mobile devices worldwide. (1/2 the population of the planet) • Mobile web growth is happening 4 times as fast as the Internet. • One out of every seven minutes of media consumption takes place on mobile. • There are over 5,000 different mobile devices that can access the mobile web. Why a Mobile Website Mobile User Friendly - Mobile users on the go [+]

These are the days when everyone has a computer; in fact, some of us have more than one. It’s no longer the possession of techies and professionals alone – we’re all sending and receiving emails, and we’re all using the Internet for social networking, researching, downloading songs and movies, and doing a hundred and one other things online. It’s easier to buy notebook computers and netbooks today, and with the plethora of cost-efficient options available, it’s easy to see why a laptop is a necessity more than a luxury these days. Probably the best thing about computers today is that you don’t need to be super tech savvy to know how to use one; but on the downside, you’re in a bind if something goes wrong and you’re not the self-troubleshooting kind. And so you send out your notebook for repairs [+]

Ran across a new blog called Laptop Screen Blog and what the site entails is it lists LCD panel part #'s and the laptop model #'s that they go into. Makes matching the right screen for a specific laptop a lot easier for repair shops. Now if you are like my computer business I find it extremely difficult matching the correct screen to the right model. To me this is a very valuable service and hopefully the creator will continue to publish to it and update it frequently. Check them out here [+]

Had a call the other day from an Attorney who's computer crashed. So after checking it out sure enough the hard drive has a serious problem. Of course the call did not come in to the office until almost closing time and this Attorney needed data off the drive that night. Well after a few hours realized that it was not going to happen that easy. Was going to have to run some special programs to see about getting any data off it at all. Called to inform the Attorney and was told that he would need a document faxed to him stating that the computer crashed and that right now is data is not recoverable. Reason for the letter was he was due in court the following morning and had documents on his computer for the case and wanted to [+]

Most of you already know some of the major players out there in the computer repair franchise world, but there is now a new player in town and their name is Nerds We Can Fix That . The President and founder of Nerds We Can Fix That is Eric Freedlander and I've had the pleasure of talking to him not only on the phone but sitting down for a chat.  The first thing that I realized when i talked with Eric just on the phone was here is a person that actually understands what it takes to do a computer repair franchise, and the next thing I realized is that he actually cares about the actual franchisee....Trust me in the franchise world that is a "unique" concept.  There are entirely too many franchises out there [+]

Matt Rodela - Insert Coin Some of you are probably wondering who is Matt Rodela and why is this posted on a computer repair blog. Well the answer is simple. Even if you are in the computer repair business it's always good to broden your horizons and check out other things. Plus, it's not often you find one of your own who has branched out into something that is truly different than computer repair. Matt Rodela owns a comptuer business, owns Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy blog and also has just released his first CD titled "Insert Coin" which are original songs with Matts singing, playing guitar and the trumpet. Check it out and listen to some of the previews of it and then purchase it. You can read more about Matt here [+]

I think if you have a business then you need to have a Facebook page for your buisness. There are many reason for this and the first one is millions of people use Facebook. The second reason is it's free advertising. So let's say you decide you are going to create that Facebook page for you business. You have it created and you find yourself making wall post every few day in order to keep people coming back to read more about your business or what specials you might be having. All that is great...... But, you wil notice that on your business page "Wall" there is are a few selections for people pertaining to what wall post they want to read and typically they are: Your Business Name + Others or Your Business Name or Just Others Now if you go and "edit" your page you will [+]