Well stated, Michael. :) I have to say the same thing about advertising, btw...
* * *ASB* *http://XeeMe.com/AndrewBaker* *Harnessing the Advantages of Technology for the SMB market… * On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 2:33 PM, Michael B. Smith <[email protected]>wrote: > It’s all about word of mouth for me. This venue (the Sunbelt mailing > lists) and another forum where I’m active kept me busy in the beginning, > and then I started writing articles and business exploded.**** > > ** ** > > I actually did advertise the first month or two, locally; and sent a few > emails to companies that had asked about my services in the past. In my > case, as far as I could see, advertising had a zero percent success rate > (and therefore a zero percent ROI). Sending those emails was good about 25% > of the time (which, overall, is a pretty good success rate).**** > > ** ** > > I’ve also made quite a few contacts via LinkedIn and my blog.**** > > ** ** > > I’m very much a “soft peddle” person when it comes to marketing. I’m not > cheap, and I know that, and I’ve lost several bids over the years because > of that. But more than once folks have come back after the first consultant > screwed it up and I got to go fix it. Those tend to be VERY loyal > customers. ;-)**** > > ** ** > > I lost money the first two months, broke even the third, and have been in > positive territory ever since. I wouldn’t have lost money those first two > months if I hadn’t spent the money on advertising. :-P**** > > ** ** > > Regards,**** > > ** ** > > Michael B. Smith**** > > Consultant and Exchange MVP**** > > http://TheEssentialExchange.com**** > > ** ** > > *From:* Don Kuhlman [mailto:[email protected]] > *Sent:* Monday, February 06, 2012 2:01 PM > > *To:* NT System Admin Issues > *Subject:* Re: OT - ugh!**** > > ** ** > > This may be out of scope for the list, but since it's been touched on, do > any of our successful entrepreneurs care to share how you got your own > thing going?**** > > For example, did you start out by advertising, cold calling, website, > contacting head hunters for work or (all of the above)?**** > > ** ** > > Just curious of some successful steps that you folks took to get going. > I'm thinking that after you got the ball rolling, you signed on clients for > ongoing support, and then things spread through word of mouth, or how did > you keep an income stream coming in at the beginning?**** > > ** ** > > Don K**** > > ** ** > ------------------------------ > > *From:* Michael B. Smith <[email protected]> > > *To:* NT System Admin Issues <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Monday, February 6, 2012 9:47 AM > *Subject:* RE: OT - ugh! > **** > > > I put off starting my own business for YEARS because I was afraid of what > I already knew. :-) Whereas, in retrospect, I wish I'd done it much earlier. > > I can think of someone else on this mailing list (who is in Alaska this > week) who waited even longer than I did. :-) > > Regards, > > Michael B. Smith > Consultant and Exchange MVP > http://TheEssentialExchange.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Maglinger, Paul [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Monday, February 06, 2012 10:28 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: RE: OT - ugh! > > I remember reading something awhile back stating that the reason that some > "non-college educated" people were able to start successful businesses was > the fact that they were not "educated" enough to realize the risks > involved. An interesting thought, isn't it? > > -----Original Message----- > From: David Lum [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Monday, February 06, 2012 8:33 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: RE: OT - ugh! > > No, you don't need a degree to start a billion dollar company, but you do > need brains and a lot of hard work. Of course if it's something you love, > it's not work at all it's a passion, and folks that are passionate about > what they do are what you're looking for. We're better than our less > passionate IT workers simply because we ENJOY the work, learning new ways > to do things, learning how the mechanics of something works, and seeking > out others who have the same passion. I feel I'm better at Windows > administration than my fellow SE's simply because my passion for it is far > higher. > > "Sneaking Out to Write Code: You already know how Microsoft was founded. > Bill Gates and Paul Allen dropped out of college to form the company in > 1975. It's that simple: Drop out of college, start a company, and become a > billionaire, right? Wrong. > > Further study reveals that Gates and Allen had thousands of hours of > programming practice prior to founding Microsoft. First, the two > co-founders met at Lakeside, an elite private school in the Seattle area. > The school raised three thousand dollars to purchase a computer terminal > for the school's computer club in 1968. > > A computer terminal at a university was rare in 1968. Gates had access to > a terminal in eighth grade. Gates and Allen quickly became addicted to > programming. > > The Gates family lived near the University of Washington. As a teenager, > Gates fed his programming addiction by sneaking out of his parents' home > after bedtime to use the University's computer. Gates & Allen acquired > their10,000 hours through this and other clever teenage schemes. When the > time came to launch Microsoft in 1975, the two were ready." > > http://www.wisdomgroup.com/report/10000_hours_of_practice/ > > And another recommended read: > http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/12/a_fast_track_to_10000_hours_of.html > > Dave. > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
