# Help



## YungRell (Jun 13, 2009)

ive notice people been coming to my site alot now. In you guys opinions does the website look alright in your eyes. Just trying to give it a professional look so people could try my services. Do you think the reason people haven't called is because of the way my website look??


Give me your honest opinion..Thank you


PcTechz Computer Repair - Home - Jackson, MO 


Check it out..


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## steely74 (Apr 3, 2008)

Since you're asking for honest criticism the site looks pretty "low budget" for lack of a better term.

I would advise against putting prices on there. for example some virus/malware removal is very easy and some is not and may take much more time and energy. I have a feeling having $20 listed on your site is gonna come back to haunt you. Other prices seem low to me but that can vary greatly my area (and low is good to potential clients).

Some of the wording seems a bit off to me as well. I'm no English major but this just doesn't sound right to me



> 30 Day Warranty on all repairs *that were fixed upon
> 
> servicing by PcTechz.*





> *Such operating systems that we worked on are* Windows 95/ME,Xp,Vista, and 7. As far as hardware parts we have several vendors that we put trust into, with getting new equipment for computer systems


Maybe it should read "We have worked on (or we are trained in, familiar with etc) such operating systems as...
Or just throw the word "have" between we and worked.

The hardware line seems off to me as well. The wording on the contact us page seems off as well.

This seems unnecessary to me



> The word "PcTechz" derived from the word "Personal Computer Technicians" just added the z for kicks.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

steely74 said:


> Since you're asking for honest criticism the site looks pretty "low budget" for lack of a better term.
> 
> I would advise against putting prices on there. for example some virus/malware removal is very easy and some is not and may take much more time and energy. I have a feeling having $20 listed on your site is gonna come back to haunt you. Other prices seem low to me but that can vary greatly my area (and low is good to potential clients).
> 
> ...


True and data recovery is hit and miss unless the "pros" with the thousand of dollars worth of equipment are used and that is VERY expensive. Posting 55 dollars could end up costing you 550 dollars for the hours it can take to retrieve data (if possible). It's a slow agonizing process!


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## YungRell (Jun 13, 2009)

Yeah you are right it's somewhat of low budget. I do all my hosting right now through Vistaprint. I'll try to do somewhat something to my website so it wont have that "low budget" look lol. I put the prices up there primarily to attract people to the website and somewhat haves a effect on it. As for right now, i put flyers around the neighborhood with those prices up too,and people are pulling the tabs off but still havent received any calls. Maybe their just taking them down for future references. 

Also yeah the wording is off a little bit after reading it. Might just have my old english teacher look it over a bit but just don't want to hear her mouth. 


Ummm anything else my fellow TSF fellows??


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

If you list those prices then they would be somewhat binding! I can't tell my cutomer 100 dollars to repair a Windows issue and then the problem is worse than thought and it takes me 5 hours. I'd have to eat those hours and work for free. That's why I charge hourly rates because there's no way of determining unforseen issues!


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## YungRell (Jun 13, 2009)

yeah i think im going to take the prices off of there to see how that go... but its a guy here that charges $15 an hour and its no way i can compete with that. He also have his A+ and N+ certification...Ehhh some much stuff to think about. So AMD in your opinion my website looks to "low budget"


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## BosonMichael (Nov 1, 2011)

Let him work for $15 an hour. Then when he messes up the customers' systems, they'll come to a tech who knows what he or she is doing. Seen it happen over and over again.

Let me ask you this... if you were looking for tech support, would you use you? I wouldn't. Your prices are low, so I wouldn't believe you can really do what you say you can do... because if you did, you'd be doing it for good wages. Your site is riddled with grammar, spelling, formatting, and punctuation errors. And your domain name is not memorable at all, particularly with the stray z in there.

I don't mean to be harsh - I simply mean to point out all the reasons why you're probably not getting any customers. Find IT service companies that have good Web sites, and then do what they do. (WARNING: do NOT copy their site - not the graphics, not the formatting, not the text. Simply use it to get an idea of some of the things you should do for your Web site.)

AMD's right - if you charge by the hour, you'll be eaten alive. Go through some of the other threads in this forum... I know we recently gave the same advice to someone else who was looking to start his own tech support company.


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## YungRell (Jun 13, 2009)

check out the new site with the fixes u guys came up with. Its still look a little "Low s Budget" , but i guess that's just good ole vistaprint hosting lol. 

PcTechz Computer Repair - Home - Jackson, MO


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## Lockheart (Nov 18, 2011)

I just looked over your site and I admire your enthusiasm. But the awkward grammar and spelling issues will turn off potential clients. They will think that if you aren't careful with your own site, you may not be careful with their equipment.

The tag line under your website title has 'Repairng' instead of 'Repairing'. The first paragraph needs spaces between the commas, and the line about 'Any server that you need performed and its not on this list...' needs an apostrophe in it's.

I like that you list what services you are offering and I also like putting down your background in the about page. If it were me I might lay out the skills in a more organized fashion and include any successful projects you've completed that prove you can perform the services offered. For example if you offer hardware installation, write about a time you installed some hardware, include some pictures. As my old writing professor would say, show, don't tell.


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## YungRell (Jun 13, 2009)

yeah you right lockheart, i'll post pictures up whenever i'm installing hardware inside a customers computer. Yeah im feeling good right now because my English professor went over my website for me. So, guys please check it out now and tell me if it's any grammar mistakes on it

PcTechz Computer Repair - Home - Jackson, MO


at the moment im talking to a couple of people to make my website look more professional, but just thinking about running with this one for right now.


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

Hi



> PcTechz have been trained to troubleshoot desktop and laptop computers, including operating systems such as: Windows 95/ME, Xp, Vista, and Windows 7.


Where is 98 ? Xp I think should be XP.

BG


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## YungRell (Jun 13, 2009)

hey basement yeah windows xp up there but not windows 98...havent really worked on windows 98 that much but i know its somewhat all the same


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

I would drop the 95 and add 98. 

What about Win 2000 pro, any server ?

BG


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

The odds of working on 95 or 98 are next to nill. Not much hardware support on hardware 2006 and up on those operating systems.


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

I certainly would not be giving folks quotes, I would be giving estimates.

BG


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## YungRell (Jun 13, 2009)

well i dont know what i am going to do. Talk to one of my advisors, and they told me i shouldn't have a website up if im not a big business. lol. He said something about taxes and to keep it small and delete the website and just put flyers up. So i might do that ehhh....it sucksss so bad..


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

Yes paying taxes is part of the cost of doing business. There are advantages to being a business and there are draw backs.

BG


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## YungRell (Jun 13, 2009)

Yup. thats money i don't have at all. One quick question though, what is the difference between quotes and estimates?? Sounds like the 2 are the same.


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

A quote is like a price tag, that is the price. Estimate are best guess price for the job.

Take your car in for a bunch of repairs, chances are good they will give you an estimate and it should be close like +/- 10%.

Your $20.00 price on malware removal should strictly be by the hour. I am not sure you know just how involved that can be. What are you to charge them when it can't be removed? 

Do you have some kind secret program(s) that will remove anything? If so we would like to know of them. 

BG


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

I won't even work on 95, 98 or Windows 2000 any more. It makes no sense since no Ms support and little driver support either on most websites makes a simple job into a complex one that you could never collect on the billable hours for. Those versions of Windows are a reason to move on as XP is starting to become also but at least its still supported.

Try to word it for the average client who knows nothing. Instead of talking about "Operating Systems", just talk about "Windows". I.e. "install Windows" or "repair Windows"...

The list of services performed is in no particular order and needs breaking up with graphics and headings so that someone will read it. Try to remember when you are writing something if it becomes endless words unbroken by something of interest, no one will read it.

And BTW what about teaching? You talk about setup for I assume new pc, but you would be surprised how many calls I get asking if I can teach them how to use it.
I build and sell pc's and a lot of why they use me is I am competitive, but I also move their data from old pc free and allow 2 hours of instruction on new unit as well. Now if the new unit isn't mine well that's hourly rate coverage! 

Make them buy you. Often times when I am on a service call if I know the costs to repair theirs is too great, I quote them what I can sell them new or used and always add "and today becomes free as well" (as long as I wasn't there more than an hour).

Now one more little thing! Go back into the first post here and change the title to something meaningful i.e. "website help" or "it business help" so that anyone else asking this question can find this thread and learn from it also in a search here.


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## YungRell (Jun 13, 2009)

Wish i had special programs to remove them. After talking to you guys, i feel i know what needs to be done. Apparently it's a guy around the area that's A+ and N+ certified as he say, and his services are $15 an hour. So what i'm going to do is charge $20 an hour and just up my fan base. The fixed price list is kinda not cool. Cause i experienced a headache. Yesterday i'd tried to remove a virus or viruses and thought it was a quick fix but yup it wasn't. So i scanned for like 4 hours with different programs and the pc wasn't right at all after all the scanning. So finally i told the customer that it needs to be reformatted and then reinstalled hmmm another 2 hours. After all the work i did for $30 i was pissed off completely. lol So you guys were right. Now im changing everything around.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

A quick fix is rare in the field. I charge hourly because you never know what you're getting into. Be prepared for some that spend two years screwing up their computer and think you can make it all better in an hour or two, doesn't work that way!


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

I am not sure what the market will bear where you are but $20 an hour seems awful low to me and I would be afraid you would wind up with a lot of problem customers as a result. I have always found raising the hourly rates improves the client base and eliminates most of the problem clients. That said remember you can charge higher rates but then put a limit on the hours charged for a given repair. I.e. I have a 3 hour limit on reinstall Windows regardless of how long it takes and if I try to clean the unit and fail, then there is still a 3 hour limit on the work even though I take it out and bring it back to reinstall Windows.


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## BosonMichael (Nov 1, 2011)

Rich-M said:


> I am not sure what the market will bear where you are but $20 an hour seems awful low to me and I would be afraid you would wind up with a lot of problem customers as a result. I have always found raising the hourly rates improves the client base and eliminates most of the problem clients. That said remember you can charge higher rates but then put a limit on the hours charged for a given repair. I.e. I have a 3 hour limit on reinstall Windows regardless of how long it takes and if I try to clean the unit and fail, then there is still a 3 hour limit on the work even though I take it out and bring it back to reinstall Windows.


I agree with Rich's assessment; $20/hr is much too low. If you were working a full 40 hours per week, you'd be making approximately $40,000 per year. And that's not counting ANY time lost meeting with prospective clients, billing customers, or doing anything else related to the maintenance of your company operations. Add in expenses, such as fuel costs travelling to and from company sites (not to mention wear-and-tear on your car), and you may end up making close to minimum wage.

I also agree with Rich's approach to customers. If a job takes a lot of time, unless I had previously stated that it will take that long, I will generally give the customer a break and charge for fewer hours than I worked. For things like virus scans and reinstalls, I often take the customer's system home and I charge only for the time that I'm actively sitting at the computer. This greatly reduces the customer's bill. Sure, I charge $100 per hour, but if I'm not having to babysit a two-hour scan, a hour of data salvage, and a two-hour reinstall at the client's site, they're not having to pay me $500... they're paying me more like $150. And they love me for it.

If your service is worth more than $20 per hour, don't let someone making $15 per hour dictate what you charge. Let that guy find out his mistake on his own as he takes all of the problem customers who will only pay that much for tech support. My time is worth much, much more than that.


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## MooseMoosington (Mar 14, 2012)

Appearances can be deceiving - you might just be the best tech in the world, but if your website is riddled with spelling/grammatical errors, most people will not take you seriously. For me, an unprofessional feel is a big turn off. Use what's there to help you out - spellcheck. Sorry if this is redundant, but it *IS* a big deal.

-Moose


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

MooseMoosington said:


> Appearances can be deceiving - you might just be the best tech in the world, but if your website is riddled with spelling/grammatical errors, most people will not take you seriously. For me, an unprofessional feel is a big turn off. Use what's there to help you out - spellcheck. Sorry if this is redundant, but it *IS* a big deal.
> 
> -Moose


Good point also. You want the clients who know good grammar but you won't get them if they see something that isn't, pure and simple!


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