Two points 1. There is not a strong connection between "I have excellent technical skills" and "I am am able to run a business well and make a profit".
2. The customer is often not able to understand the product or service he is buying. That means they can't really understand whether or not a job was done well. This is true in many fields. Tom >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 06:20, <linux-il-requ...@cs.huji.ac.il> wrote: > Send Linux-il mailing list submissions to > linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > linux-il-requ...@cs.huji.ac.il > > You can reach the person managing the list at > linux-il-ow...@cs.huji.ac.il > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Linux-il digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: [OFFTOPIC] Finding the next lucrative niche (was: Re: > Goodbye, Lingnu) (geoffrey mendelson) > 2. Re: [OFFTOPIC] Finding the next lucrative niche (was: Re: > Goodbye, Lingnu) (Etzion Bar-Noy) > 3. Re: [OFFTOPIC] Finding the next lucrative niche (was: Re: > Goodbye, Lingnu) (Etzion Bar-Noy) > 4. Re: Goodbye, Lingnu (Amos Shapira) > 5. Re: [OFFTOPIC] Finding the next lucrative niche (was: Re: > Goodbye, Lingnu) (Amos Shapira) > 6. Re: [OFFTOPIC] Finding the next lucrative niche (Shachar Shemesh) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:12:25 +0200 > From: geoffrey mendelson <geoffreymendel...@gmail.com> > To: Dotan Cohen <dotanco...@gmail.com> > Cc: linux-il <linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il> > Subject: Re: [OFFTOPIC] Finding the next lucrative niche (was: Re: > Goodbye, Lingnu) > Message-ID: <36256d27-be42-4fa6-99c8-27feacc8b...@gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed > > > On Nov 14, 2011, at 6:48 PM, Dotan Cohen wrote: >> >> Simply because "price per hour" is a quantitative metric. The fact >> that it is meaningless is meaningless. > > > It's the bogo-mips of consulting. :-) > > Geoff. > > > -- > Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM > My high blood pressure medicine reduces my midichlorian count. :-( > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:23:57 +0200 > From: Etzion Bar-Noy <eza...@tournament.org.il> > To: Hetz Ben Hamo <het...@gmail.com> > Cc: linux-il <linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il> > Subject: Re: [OFFTOPIC] Finding the next lucrative niche (was: Re: > Goodbye, Lingnu) > Message-ID: > <CA+vBjEeOQtaysncB7Ad0yL9=JGncG9fLhfr=ila3blubkxw...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > True. However, the best support can be given by a pro who has a cooperation > of the hosting company. Most of them will never cooperate, as they earn > better (despite their awful quality of work) with an external > person/company. So, your main channel - the hosting supplier, will probably > not like you using it as a marketing channel, and you can hardly ever know > (without some extensive search or cracking skills) which hosting service > holds which customers. > > Ez > > 2011/11/14 Hetz Ben Hamo <het...@gmail.com> > >> Hi, >> >> I'll give you one: Supporting hosting customers. >> >> Explanation: there are over 40 businesses here in Israel which provides >> VPS and dedicated server renting solutions. >> Most of those businesses (including mine) provide the machine to the >> customers as "unmanaged", >> which means: the support you'll get relates *only* to network (if your >> VPS/Server) can communicate to and from the server >> The other part of support: shutting down/restart/pause/reset the server. >> >> Anything else - you're on your own. You can purchase a bank of hours for >> support or you can get emergency support for a higher price. >> >> There are, of course, some hosting businesses which will give you managed >> service, but in most case I would strongly recommend to get a freelance who >> will do the job for the client. >> >> Why? because they *SUCK AT IT* ! spreading root privileges all over the >> place, changing permissions of directories and files to 777, opening the >> internal firewall (if it exists, most of the time it's not) to everyone+his >> dog, and other nonsense stuff, and I'm also talking about the *BIG* >> providers which are also ISP - they suck, period! >> >> I think that this niche is mostly empty and people can get some >> jobs/contracts with such customers. >> >> If anyone want to register himself, I have a neutral forum for that. see >> here: http://hosts-forum.com/index.php >> >> Hope this helps, >> Hetz >> >> On Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 3:02 PM, Omer Zak <w...@zak.co.il> wrote: >> >>> We need some process for identifying the next niche to pursue, taking >>> into account current skill set, customers/contacts, and effort&expense >>> incurred in acquiring the competencies relevant for the next niche. >>> >>> Did anyone blog about such a process? >>> -- >> >> *?? ?? ??? >> ??-??? >> *????? ?????? ?? ????? ?????? >> ??????? ?????? ??????? ??????? ????? ???????? Hulu? NetFlix? Pandora? >> Google Voice? ?? ??, ????? ???? <http://vps.net.bz/?p=406>. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Linux-il mailing list >> Linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il >> http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il >> >> > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/pipermail/linux-il/attachments/20111114/e82b57d3/attachment-0001.html> > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:27:38 +0200 > From: Etzion Bar-Noy <eza...@tournament.org.il> > To: "Nadav Har'El" <n...@math.technion.ac.il> > Cc: linux-il <linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il>, geoffrey mendelson > <geoffreymendel...@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [OFFTOPIC] Finding the next lucrative niche (was: Re: > Goodbye, Lingnu) > Message-ID: > <CA+vBjEeJ0kiZ0eHvfVFxE=b9ot4rrdyqsyftjoxba7y3_ua...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > It doesn't matter. Because a customer needs a method of estimating a work, > does not make you his bitch(tm). You can estimate your work, but you seldom > work in a vacuum. You are working on his servers, on his setups, his > storage devices, around his network equipment. Under most cases, when I get > delayed, it's because of the customer, and not me. > > Example. One of the newer cellular suppliers has demanded that I install a > large system in their new server farm (16 blades and a storage). I have > prepared the system, and on the delivery day (which was very time-pressed > due to the customer), I have discovered that they had not installed 220v AC > there yet. Can't do anything with the servers. The funny thing is that > during that time, two or three weeks since, the system is just sitting > there, when the server room is being "built" around it. > > Ez > > On Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 4:33 PM, Nadav Har'El <n...@math.technion.ac.il>wrote: > >> On Mon, Nov 14, 2011, geoffrey mendelson wrote about "Re: [OFFTOPIC] >> Finding the next lucrative niche (was: Re: Goodbye, Lingnu)": >> > Long ago I got out of the PC repair/support business when the 50 NIS >> > an hour people took over. >> >> Am I the only one bothered by all this "per hour" talk? >> >> What prevents a 50-NIS-per-hour consultant from telling you he worked >> for 4 hours on your problem, which it actually took him just one hour in >> his lab? >> Or a 200-NIS-per-hour consultant from finding your problem in 10 >> minutes, because he solved exactly this problem a week ago or wrote the >> necessary code already? >> >> So how is the "price per hour" a meaningful variable when comparing two >> consultants? >> >> -- >> Nadav Har'El | Monday, Nov 14 >> 2011, >> n...@math.technion.ac.il >> |----------------------------------------- >> Phone +972-523-790466, ICQ 13349191 |Cats aren't clean, they're just >> covered >> http://nadav.harel.org.il |with cat spit. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Linux-il mailing list >> Linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il >> http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il >> > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/pipermail/linux-il/attachments/20111114/4a2f43da/attachment-0001.html> > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:41:55 +1100 > From: Amos Shapira <amos.shap...@gmail.com> > To: "Nadav Har'El" <n...@math.technion.ac.il> > Cc: Shachar Shemesh <shac...@shemesh.biz>, linux-il > <linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il> > Subject: Re: Goodbye, Lingnu > Message-ID: > <caf9n_wwhlyita-jy6ovgnzvxyk2zekgafc3wmhv1gkahwoy...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > On 14 November 2011 22:14, Nadav Har'El <n...@math.technion.ac.il> wrote: > >> So maybe the key to winning over your competitors isn't to charge less >> per hour, but rather to complete the job in less time. (you can of >> course hide this will all sorts of creative marketing) >> > > There used to be a slogan on a shop on my commute route which I really > liked (they sell and install Fujitsu air conditioners): > "Nobody remembers how quickly you did a job but everyone remembers how well > you did it". > > Anyway, only tip I can give is to try to look for contracts outside Israel > - e.g. Freelancer, LinkedIn and so on. Your skills are such that you should > be able to sell your time on-line everywhere on the planet as long as you > manage to market yourself correctly. > > Good luck. > > --Amos > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/pipermail/linux-il/attachments/20111115/188b6fbc/attachment-0001.html> > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 5 > Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:47:03 +1100 > From: Amos Shapira <amos.shap...@gmail.com> > To: geoffrey mendelson <geoffreymendel...@gmail.com> > Cc: linux-il <linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il> > Subject: Re: [OFFTOPIC] Finding the next lucrative niche (was: Re: > Goodbye, Lingnu) > Message-ID: > <caf9n_wuzgonc4sco+7ca_awksep0vncpkkow6nn66_5mtg6...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > On 15 November 2011 04:12, geoffrey mendelson > <geoffreymendel...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> >> On Nov 14, 2011, at 6:48 PM, Dotan Cohen wrote: >> >>> >>> Simply because "price per hour" is a quantitative metric. The fact >>> that it is meaningless is meaningless. >>> >> >> >> It's the bogo-mips of consulting. :-) > > > +1 :) > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/pipermail/linux-il/attachments/20111115/31378adc/attachment-0001.html> > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 6 > Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:19:54 +0200 > From: Shachar Shemesh <shac...@shemesh.biz> > To: Etzion Bar-Noy <eza...@tournament.org.il> > Cc: linux-il <linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il>, geoffrey mendelson > <geoffreymendel...@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [OFFTOPIC] Finding the next lucrative niche > Message-ID: <4ec1e86a.1020...@shemesh.biz> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > On 11/14/2011 11:27 PM, Etzion Bar-Noy wrote: >> Can't do anything with the servers. The funny thing is that during >> that time, two or three weeks since, the system is just sitting there, >> when the server room is being "built" around it. > My worst "time wasted" story is from way back (you can calculate just > how way back in a second). I was contacted by Channel 2 News to do some > trivial server maintenance. It was trivial that I said I'm going to have > to charge them half time for my time getting there. Obviously, we > scheduled it during the day, as they are only truly active during the > evenings unless something special comes up. > > Except this turned out to be the day the Akaba agreement was signed. I > have no idea why they didn't reschedule. The place was crawling with TV > celebs, and we were constantly interrupted because the guy I was > supposed to do the maintenance for kept being called away to handle one > thing or the other. In the end, an half hour net job took over four hours. > > What's even more interesting is that these occasions have a dress code. > Technical people dress casually. News anchors dress semi-officially, > which is to say they have an official shirt on, tie and all, but casual > pants (down to the level of shorts, on some occasions). Guests dress > officially. So my client's contact was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, > Ehud Yaari had a buttoned shirt flapping out of his Jeans, and Ahmed > Tibi had a complete suite on. Oblivious to this dress code, I dressed up > to go to a client, which meant that I got lots of looks from people who > figured that I must be a guest, but did not recognize me. > > Shachar > > -- > Shachar Shemesh > Lingnu Open Source Consulting Ltd. > http://www.lingnu.com > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/pipermail/linux-il/attachments/20111115/13528a7e/attachment.html> > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Linux-il mailing list > Linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il > http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il > > > End of Linux-il Digest, Vol 35, Issue 12 > **************************************** > _______________________________________________ Linux-il mailing list Linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il http://mailman.cs.huji.ac.il/mailman/listinfo/linux-il
