WHAT’S INSIDE
Computers, Networking, Websites, Advertising, Marketing & Sales ISSUE 005 | MAY 2012
The Official Monthly Magazine of the Association of Computer Repair Business Owners
ACRBO Mag By Technicians, For Technicians
Useful Tips
IMPROVE YOUR OFFLINE MARKETING P20
Question Time:
How to become a storefront? P26
INTERVIEW
Keith Gordon The Illinois Computer Repair owner tells us how he dropped out of college to start his business
DEALS
MSP Advice
Exclusive Offers
Get out of Break/Fix
ACRBO gives you some great discounts that can’t be found anywhere else!
Derek from Cantey Technologies tells us how to move into MSPs
IN THIS ISSUE
MAY 2012
Contents MAY 2012 | ISSUE 005 | ACRBO MONTHLY | ONLINE
P3
Editors Letter & Top Picks
P4
ACRBO Inbox Dan answers your questions
P5
Gillware - Fixing Dead Drives
P6
Featured Member Profile Keith The Computer Guy
Featured Articles
P8 ScreenConnect Advert P9
Join the ACRBO! Get a premium account today!
P10
ACRBO Deals By Daniel Hand
P11
Computer Repair Business Lessons Learnt By Daniel Hand
P12
Consider Hiring By Christine Roux
P14
Storefronts | P26
Practical steps to move from break/fix By Derek Iannelli-Smith
P17
GFI Max
P18
The Industry
P19
Strategies For The Social Market
P20
Offline Business Promotion
P21
What To Consider With Promotion
P22
ACRBO Marketplace The people and products that helped make this issue
P23
Business Apps By Dennis Drew
P24
ACRBO Inbox | P4
RAID Failure Tips By Brian Gill
P26
From Mobile To Storefront
P27
Customer Loyalty Website Promo | P21
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HELLO
Editors words
EDITORS INTRO
Welcome to this month’s issue of our magazine. This month we bring you some great new articles.
Please visit our sponsors as they know what you need to help you with all your business endeavours.
We work hard to put together each issue of this magazine and welcome the feedback and contributions from all our loyal readers.
Lastly I’d like to congratulate you for investing your time to educate yourself by reading this magazine.
A publication like this would not be possible without the support of our valued advertisers who provide relevant products and services for our readership.
We are proud to be able to help all our readers, and look forward to serving you for many years to come.
Talk to us! Keep your valuable feedback coming. We try to reply to every email, we appreciate your input as it helps to make the ACRBO magazine possible. dan@acrbo.com www.Facebook.com/acrbo
ACRBO Magazine Fredericksburg Virginia Swansea, Wales, UK Advertising enquires: Send an email to dan@acrbo.com Contribute articles: If you would like to be a contributing author for the magazine then send an email to dan@acrbo.com and let us know what you would like to write about. Copyright 2012 ACRBO. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated or converted into machine-readable form or language without the written consent of the publisher. Articles express the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the publisher ACRBO Magazine Director: ACRBO dan@acrbo.com Editor: Jon May jon@thelaptopmedics.co.uk Contributors Various experts in their fields
“Association of Computer Repair Business Owners”
The instructions and advice in the magazine is for entertainment purposes only. The creators, producers, contributors and distributors of the ACRBO Mag disclaim any liability for loss or lack of results from following the advice expressed herein.
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ACRBO INBOX
EMAILS
ACRBO Inbox
If you’ve got a question, just fire it over to dan@acrbo.com and we’ll answer them and include the top three e-mails in each issue.
Getting Qualified
Over The Phone
or focus on experience?
How much free advice should I give?
QUESTION:
QUESTION:
Should I get certifications or will they even help my business?
Should I help people over the phone when they ask questions?
What do you suggest?
DAN, ACRBO DAN, ACRBO: This has been asked many times in different tech forums and the answer is never going to be the same. I personally think self improvement and self education is important. I think it is actually a benefit especially if you have to submit say a proposal to a business if you can put on there that you do have certifications. Granted the business in particular may not know what they mean but they will understand “Certifications”.
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Really depends on what they are asking. Sometimes you get those calls and customers think you should just tell them step-by-step how to remove a virus for free. But, there comes a point when a general question actually becomes you taking time out of your schedule to deal with them. I personally tell them that their best bet is to bring it in and we can diagnose it to find out exactly what is wrong with it. We tell them that there are too many variables to properly try to guess a resolution over the phone. Past customers we will be a bit more lenient with due to already having a business relationship with them.
Drives Fail. REVIEWS
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BIG INTERVIEW
FEATURE
Keith G ordon tell us how he dropped out of college and started his business in Chicago, IL
YOU’RE NEXT
I f yo u wo u l d l i ke yo u r b u si n e ss to be fe at u re d i n the ACRBO M ag azi n e th en j u st d ro p u s a l i n e at d an @ ac rbo.c o m and we’ l l g et back to yo u w i th w h at d etai l s are n eed e d .
It’s free advertising! Get in touch today!
“Turn off your cell for a day and regain focus on your life” 6
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FEATURE
BIG INTERVIEW
Featured Member This month, Keith Gordon talks to us and gives us a look into his life ...
Q Q Q Q
Business Name? Keith The Computer Guy. Where are you located? Chicago, IL. Education? High School Diploma.
Q
Who was your hero as a child? Malcom X
Q
How did you end up owning your business? I dropped out of college and had a lot of spare time.
What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted the typical American Dream job - Doctor or a Lawyer.
Q
Q
Q
What was your worst job? All of them were great and taught me everything I know today.
Q
What was your first job? Summer Camp Leader with Chicago Park District
What is next for your business? Setup my business to run without me and travel the world. What business book do you recommend most and why? Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. The book teaches you how to create a solid foundation. Which you need to succeed not just in business but life.
Q
What advice would you give someone thinking about starting a business right now? Turn off your cell for a day and regain focus on your life. Find a mentor already running a business or had a successful business at one point. Remove toxic people from your life.
Q
Where do you want to be five years from now? Five years from now, I want to still be happy.
Q
What are you most likely doing when not working? Spending time with my family, exercising, reading, and meditating. Anything to get my mind off the business.
Q
Who would you rather spend time with, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Warren Buffett? I’d rather spend time with Steve Jobs, I’d learn more about myself in 1 hour with Steve’s tough love than 1 year with others.
WEBSITE
MARKETING
DISCOUNTS
DEALS
Bargain
APRIL 2012
ACRBO DEALS Remote Support
Tutorials
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Stay Tuned ACRBO Preferred Vendor
Computer Repair Tech Website Builder Some of you may of already heard but Steve Cherubino has disclosed that he is going to be coming out with the NEW Computer Repair Tech Website Builder. Years ago Steve developed an easy to build/edit website for computer businesses and was greeted with great success and praise from business owners. Realizing the market has changed Steve has done a total revamp to the Tech Website Builder and it should be released very soon‌ Top right is a picture of the old format that was used with great success. Really looking forward to this new release.
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Your Advert Here dan@acrbo.com
REMOTE
STARTUPS
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EMPLOYEES
STAFF
Consider Hiring Christine Roux from I.T. By The Sea asks us to take a more unconventional approach to hiring staff and how to offset the cost of There comes a time in the life of every small business owner when we desperately need some help attending our clients, yet are not sure we can afford to pay someone. This is especially true with Computer Repair business owners since we not only have to consider the cost of the employee, but also the cost of training the person to do things “our” way. It often becomes a catch 22 where we don’t have the time or the money to hire someone even though we know that hiring someone would allow us, in the medium to long term, to have more time and make more money. When confronted to this kind of situation, try thinking out of the box. No, Monster, Craigslist, your local papers, or your local colleges are not the only places to find help. One of the solutions you most likely didn’t think of is your state’s Vocational Rehab program, especially it’s On The Job Training part.
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On the Job Training is a special program that depends from the state’s Vocational Rehab program and allows disabled* people to get real life training in a job/career they pre-qualify for. It works like any normal hiring: you send a copy of your job offer to the Vocational Rehab** local counselors and they encourage their clients who qualify to send you their resume. You choose the candidates you might be interested in, interview them and hire the candidate of your choice. You now have a new employee/trainee. The main difference between this program and “normal” employment is that the state acknowledges the fact that your new employee requires training by reimbursing you for their salary and compensating you for the time you spend training the person. What this means for the employee and that they can get a training that will enable them to get gainful employment whilst earning an acceptable wage that allows them
to take care of their financial responsibilities. What this means for you, as a small business owner, is that you can add a person to your staff AND take the time to train them to work “your way” without spending time and money you do not have. You will also most likely find that your new “employees” are way more enthusiastic about learning and working than the employees you recruit through other venues. So next time you start wondering what will come first: a new employee or the money to pay them, think Vocational Rehab and put yourself and your potential employee in a win-win situation. * Contrary to popular preconceptions, disabled people are not all blind or in a wheel chair. There are hundreds of other disabilities that allow people to qualify for this program. **You will most likely have to register as a state vendor. Check the conditions in your particular state.
MAPS
LOCATOR
Computer Repair locator is a World-Wide locating service for Computer Repair people/businesses.
List your business today with all your details: • Photos and videos of your business • Contact information (name, address, phone number, email address, office hours and social network profiles including Facebook and Twitter) • Description of your business • Special promotions and coupons to offer your customers • Feel free to search your location to find exactly who you are looking for. • Computer Repair Locator is owned and maintained by the Association of Computer Repair Business Owners.
Get your business listed today at: www.computerrepairlocator.com www.acrbo.com
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BREAK/FIX
MSP
Moving Toward Derek Iannelli-Smith from Cantey Technology gives us part two of his guide to practical steps for moving away from break fix to managed services We continue our series studying the practical steps for moving away from Break Fix to Managed Services, of which I outlined 5-steps. This month we focus on another foundational premise; Use a PSA platform. I am ruthless when it comes to vendor management and excellent customer service. The companies I mention below have persevered for me in two separate environments. In summary from original article; Use a PSA (Professional Service Automation) platform. Many small business owners complain about the costs for the biggie software companies (Autotask or Connectwise), however, it is really costing you if you are not using them. I have used both, and prefer Autotask for the functionality and Connectwise for the training/ implementation support (CW – Modern Office is AWESOME). Talk with the vendors and they will get you started. Think this through; because once you select one, migration to another platform is NOT SMOOTH despite what the sales guys say. The benefit of a PSA over your current solution is that both the packages I mention above are based upon ITIL Standards, a must in the IT
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service industry. I will outline this article in the following format – Costs (Expenditure), Functionality (Productivity), Support (continue learning), and Migration. Costs (or Expenditures): Autotask (our current #1 choice) – Has been expensive in the beginning until we had an on-site champion (super admin for a site). Let your employees watch the video tutorials. Although the training system in place with our second contender has a better HR type of tracking for training to include short 10 question tests for certificates, Autotask does a good job of maintaining their knowledge and dissemination base. Another cost with Vendor Management as good levels of support are obtained is down time. We have NEVER experienced disconnect from resources, however there has been limited functionality as database updates were applied. We have always had access to our contacts and timesheet data. A valuable asset to reliable stability in a mid-size SMB provider role. Well done Autotask. We also have activated (additional cost) all the mobile apps, extensions (patched into our Managed Workplace Service Center), integrated billing (intronis,
warranties), and looking to our next rollout of 2012, mobile device management! ConnectWise (Used previously for eight months) – Pricing was similar for CW as it is for our number one recommendation! Transitional training was phenomenal with an account manager follow ups! I felt a little more connected with CW’s customer service. I was given portal access off the bat also for clients. Further, the layout was all run from a successfully initiated client app. Modules had additional costs (a big + with CW QuickBooks plugin was included in base package at no additional cost – a tempting enticement). Coding for cross partner management was not up to the same level of AT and it did not pull device info either. Software distribution and scripting was also a little more cumbersome, but then again, I have been AT for quite a while! Functionality (Productivity): Autotask’s functionality is LIVE, meaning it is constantly morphing to keep up with the changing technologies. There is great crossplatform integrations, and the ‘coders’ really know their stuff! Our managed services alerts are generated into tickets and placed in workflow policy queues,
MSP
BREAK/FIX
ds Being a MSP scripted, disseminated, accessible through outlook, mobile phones, tablets, cloud services and hosted product s for full process ITIL service management! One of the most helpful apps from AT (a major blackeye for CW!) is the outlook client plugin which allows full integration into received emails, calendar items, tasks, processing of tickets, notes, projects, account notes, etc. The AT Extensions library is full of productive live features for Managed Service Providers! We fully integrate our online backup and managed workplace connections to their respective accounts which also create track able resources through ticketing and history. Further, device discovery (a process of pooling all resources from an active client site where an Onsite Manager is installed) brings every device with all of its info directly into Autotask as well. So for instance, when I receive an alert, it is specifically for a device included in the account, and we have all the ‘spec’ data to accompany the device as well has history – a valuable asset for the onsite or remote tech! ConnectWise has one of the best training and HR functionality out there. You can schedule training for all levels of employees and roles, and also track their training as well. One of the best items on training is their bird’s eye view called The Modern Office.
It truly transformed my mindset when it comes to how to view the IT service industry. It is this commitment to investing in their partner’s (making them more profitable) that is quite intriguing. Some heavy hitters use CW (from last month’s article – VA was my first exposure of being a recipient of CW PSA) and seeing it used and implemented was also a benefit. Another valuable asset and AT’s black-eye is the QuickBooks extension that is already include in the provisioning without altering the workflow. There are many days I wish that the Training and HR functionality were prevalent in the AT interface. Support (Continued Learning): Autotask in the beginning had also a great transitional training program, assigned an account manager, but after the initial rollout, it seemed like it all shut down. I don’t get invitations for webinars, lessons learned, or best practices from AT. I really appreciated that in the beginning and think it should continue. They would say the end-user forum is the place for that. I really don’t have time to hover in forums like some MySpace (yes I chose an outdated social network venue to emphasize the hassle of it) addict waiting for an update for an important question.
The secondary logon for support ticketing is good from a piece of mind stance, in that I can track all my open issues and update them directly, however, there is no consideration for scheduling when they want to answer your problem. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to request that a support question resolution be scheduled because I was in the midst of a job and they decided to call and were ‘ready’ to resolve the problem. If you don’t solve it then, it gets nebulized (meaning a hassle to track down for follow up and they get snippy because you cannot drop what you’re doing to address issues). We recently had an issue that went on for five months and they attempted to play the card that because I continually updated the ticket, that it got re-rolled back into the workflow and ‘unable to resolve’ because I updated the status (to show that it had NOT been addressed). One of the recent changes I have seen is following up by email being better for resolutions. Remember, I said I am ruthless when it comes to support, so although it may sound like I am being critical, it is actuality something AT has learned to accommodate with us. ConnectWise support is fantastic, I cannot remember one negative instance in which I got rolled through a red-tape situation
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BREAK/FIX
MSP
or dodging the problem.
compatible.
CW is very proactive when it comes to support. Appointments were scheduled, emails promptly answered, and repairs where rolled out live as they came out. This is a dramatic difference to AT.
When I transitioned from my previous company and had extensive AT data, they could not merge the data into my new company existing AT data.
One thing they are committed to is the IT Service Model and it is evident. I only just recently unsubscribed from all the newsletters, university updates, and webinar invitations. Migration: Autotask is a bear to migrate to as is ConnectWise. Neither is compatible with each other despite what the slick sales person says. For instance, when I migrated to CW from AT, the only data able to come through were the freshly exported Outlook contacts I had (accounts) and all the ticketing information was lost. I spent a couple of months in off time running a dual environment just to transition information (copy and paste) into CW. My understanding is that the transition from CW to AT is the same. Which is why the strong recommendation to choose one and commit to it, but also understand the costs in doing so and accept it up front as part of the transition. Knowing this on the front end for me would have prevented much high blood pressure medication. The AT plugin for Outlook increases the expediency of the migration however in being able to import client data from emails, tasks, calendar items, and device discovery. The other black eye for AT is that it is not even same database
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That too took a few days of cleanup and maintenance, and at one point we even heard from the AT rep, that this was a failing feature that even they were aware of that needed much work. So on that note, migration is a festering wound for both companies, but part of an honest assessment article regarding PSA’s and especially the ‘big boys’. Summary: I would not change my choice with ATP, it has always been my first choice despite the issues, but that is not to say that the benefits of CW (training, HR Functionality, and proactive support) would not be an even better asset to ATP. If there was a way to merge these two areas, ATP would have a conglomerate on the PSA industry I am convinced. So there you have it, cost – is about the same, functionality – ATP clearly is the leader. Support – CW is better at this hands down and Migration is a sore spot for both. So why use a PSA? It implements a system to your business model that is backed by leading industry standards. It gets you, your techs, and the business executives on the same page regarding business objectives, but finally, one place for all business functionality versus running twelve different software packages to
achieve the same outcome. I would even dare to say, that without a PSA you are not tracking everything you can due to the diversity of software and applications. Having all of this in one place is a huge benefit and ROI. Having a hosted PSA (like the ones I mentioned) also provides uptime, availability, and productivity for all roles in your business at all times, and is not limited by client, host, application, server etc. With ATP all you need is an internet connection on any device and you can work and bill. CW is a little more limited through its client installed app. Finally, I cannot stress enough the investing in of on-site champions (ATP terminology) which means training, and unbillable time as you get them up to speed on full functionality of the PSA you choose. Otherwise you will spend costly time that is non-billable and inconvenient, I have to say, my boss at Cantey is one of the few who understands the value of training but also through gritted teeth, probably like many of you. Your admin choice is going to have to be a committed individual who shows initiative and is business model focused versus rolling out the new widget or workflow. Maintenance of your PSA is also going to take time for it to be customized to making your business profitable. My PSA champion experience I know was one of the resume items that got me my current job. It is a valuable asset that should not be overlooked. Next month, the topic of tapping into an MSP Education System. Good luck to you and let me know if there is anything I can do to help you.
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ADVERTISING
WEBSITES
If you are in the Information Technology industry then below is a list of must visit locations
Site: www.TechNibble.com
Who Is Technibble For? Technibble is a free resource for Computer Technicians ComputerTechnicians Business owners. Technibble is and for Computer (or soon to be techs) who are looking to get into the IT industry, start their own computer business Technicians or improve their Technibble helps Computer withexisting one. We frequently write about ways for you ato get informational and how-to articles published clients, deal with problem clients and introduce you to few some great computer repair community tools and of software. times a week and has a strong
Site: www.TheForceField.net
What is The Force Field?
The Force Field is the name of a podcast for IT Service Professionals, IT consultants, VARs, computer shops and anyone else in the technology field, particularly those who offer products and services to end users.
Computer Technicians to help one another. About Technibble
Technibble started in 2006. During this time the Technibbleitself helps you by covering topics such as: founder (Bryce Whitty) was doing a lot of web development work for clients. There were a handful of sites available that talked about the business side of web - How to start a Computer Business development such as how to get clients or how to deal - Advertising, how to This get clients andakeep with troublesome ones. helped him greatthem deal in the web development but eventually gave away - Business and legalworld issues doing web development for clients andwork focused solely on - Steamline your computer repair the computer repairs. - Technician related product reviews and However, he noticed there wasn’t anything out there to discounts help Computer Technicians with their business in the - Newway opportunities look out for From this, same there was fortoweb developers. - Stories from Technibble was "the born.trenches" from your fellow Computer Techs Over the years, Technibble has grown into a vibrant community of Computer Technicians sharing their knowledge with each other. Technibble also has a large database of Computer Repair tools and adds a new one to its Be sure toevery checkweek. out the Archives, Computer Repair database Tools section and the Computer Technician forum. .
The half hour show is produced by Savoia Media and hosted by Rick Savoia, an IT Service Professional who is also a veteran in the broadcast industry.
Your Ad Here Last issue had over Your Ad here 2,500 views!
Contact
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Let Us Know > Want to see your ad here? Drop us an email.
Be sure to check out the Archives, Computer Repair Tools section and the Computer Technician forum. www.TechNibble.com
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PROMO
MARKETING
Social Media Lessons Most business are failing to respond on social channels and this can damage future brand loyalty and revenue A report from A.T. Kearney found that more than 90 percent of businesses using social media marketing do not actively respond to communicate with their customers, despite evidence that active engagement helps businesses improve sales.
In December 2011, consulting firm A.T. Kearney analyzed the conversations happening on Facebook between 50 of the world’s top brands and their fans, comparing their interactions to those in December 2010.
While brands are reaching more and more consumers via their Facebook pages, companies are not realizing the full potential of engaging and interacting with these brand fans.
The study found that in 2011, 94% of the 50 top brands’ Facebook pages directed users to a one-way communication page, such as a tab or a closed Facebook wall that didn’t allow consumers to initiate a
conversation. This was up from 91% of the top 50 brands’ pages in 2010. Additionally, 56% of those brands did not respond to a single customer comment on their Facebook page in 2011; the same percentage of nonresponses as in 2010. Time to look at your business model and see exactly what you are doing with social marketing
Competition Win a Brand New Troubleshooting Windows 7 Inside Out book! The ultimate, in-depth troubleshooting reference. We will randomly choose a winner and e-mail the winner. Just send an email to: dan@acrbo.com and in the Subject line put: Win Book Last month’s winner of the book is: Dave Mason of Mason Computer Service
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PROMOTION
OFFLINE
Promoting Your Business Dan Hand explains how to increase your brand exposure offline in the traditional methods used successfully for previous generations There is much buzz regarding the importance of promoting your business online, advice on this topic is offered everywhere. Some say the best way to increase sales is to have a website for your business. Some stress the importance of using social media, while others say the best method for promoting your business is the use of article marketing. Without exception; every business should have a website. It’s a must. I also know that article marketing absolutely will give almost any business a huge competitive advantage. The avenues for promoting a business online are almost endless, and most should seriously be considered. While there are many excellent opportunities to promote online, business owners need to be very careful not to focus all their sales generating efforts toward the Internet. Many business owners make the mistake of investing way too much energy toward an online presence, and overlook the powerful effectiveness of offline promoting. It’s essential to have a well planed offline business promoting strategy in place, one that utilizes simplicity
and clarity at its core. The best return on investment for almost any business is offline promoting. When you present your business offline in the most professional way possible and in a manner that’s completely acceptable to your potential customer, all of your online efforts are sure to produce much better results. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t take a huge marketing budget in order to get potential customers to want to do business with you. What
really attract customers are the little things, the simple things that business owners often overlook. Many times an excellent outcome can be achieved by simply going back and fine tuning these little things. There are so many overlooked opportunities to put your business in front of your potential customer’s eyes that cost very little or nothing at all. Consumers are very intuitive; they pay close attention to every little detail about a business. All a business owner needs to do in order to achieve excellent sales results is to view their business exclusively through a potential customers eyes; 24/7/365. Today’s consumer demands simplicity and clarity before, during and after the sale. They have many choices when it comes to patronizing any business. They decide if they want to do business with you; or not! They are the boss.
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OFFLINE
PROMOTION
What To Consider Dan Hand explains what to consider when creating an online prescence and how to market your company the right way Marketing your business online will give your company a competitive edge and wider access to your target audience - without spending a ton of ineffective advertising dollars. Today, most people will search the Internet first, even when they want to find a nearby shop or restaurant - so it’s important that local businesses increase their online marketing to reach these people. A website is a logical place to begin your online marketing. Websites should look professional, be easy to navigate and all of the links should work. When marketing your business online, you should describe the products and services you offer and provide contact information and make it easy to contact your business with a phone number that they don’t have to search for on your website along with a contact form vice just an email address.. Optimizing your writing to use keywords will ensure that your website appears in the search engine results. Many business owners are challenged by the concept of creating a website and adding pertinent content to it. If that is the case it is easy enough to find
someone out there that can create a professional looking website for your business. Some of the things that are needed are: • • • •
Main Page About Us Page Services Page Contact Page
Those are the basic pages you will need. Of course you can add more like a “specials” page or even a blog. Keep in mind if you add a blog to your website you will be expected to keep it up to date. Nothing looks worse then a blog on a website that was updated months ago. As long as your website is built properly you can always add more to it as time goes on. Web marketing is about ensuring that your Target Audience recognizes your company’s name, giving people a reason to return to your website and helping your prospects (website visitors) make a buying decision that includes you! Building name recognition (branding) online can be done by using Social networking (twitter, facebook, linked in etc), paid search engine advertising (pay per click), banner advertising
on other websites, submitting your information to online trade organization directories and even by registering with web map services as a local business that will be displayed on maps searched in your area. Email marketing is a tried and testing online marketing method. After ensuring that you have your customers or prospects permission to send email, spend time creating emails that are unique enough to make them stand out from all the other mail in your customer’s email box. When using email marketing, it is best to send a newsletter that has useful information and / or a coupon or discount voucher. It is important that you follow all government regulations regarding email marketing, which includes removing customers from your list promptly when requested. Some of the best information for online marketing has not changed in many years and follows the same basic principles as marketing your business offline. Marketing your business online requires you to have a clear plan, research your market, product and competition and, of course, excellent customer service.
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Quotable: I have an almost religious zeal - not for technology per se, but for
the Internet which is for me, the nervous system of mother Earth, which I see as a living creature, linking up. ~Dan Millman
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RAID TIPS
GILLWARE
RAID Failure Tips Brian Gill from Gillware gives us some tips on how to prevent and deal with common failures in RAID arrays In a previous issue of this magazine, I shared some observations, based on thousands of successful data recovery cases, about how to set up a RAID-5 so it would be less likely to leave you in a lurch. If those tips are too late to be of immediate use, here are my suggestions for what to do after your RAID-5 has failed and you are hoping to recover its data. Don’t Panic, Don’t Start Pushing Buttons When a RAID device is inaccessible, it is common for IT professionals to feel somewhat responsible. Sometimes a client is screaming at the top of their lungs that their whole business has ground to a halt without this array and that they are losing thousands of dollars for every hour of downtime. Worst case scenarios – such as losing a client or facing litigation – can creep into the IT professional’s psyche. The urge to get it up and running quickly can be overwhelming. It’s important to try to relax and to avoid actions without fully understanding their consequences. Respect the RAID Card The RAID card, assuming it isn’t smoked, likely knows a lot more about the situation than you do. If you try to initiate a process and the card replies that that action can cause catastrophic data loss, believe it and don’t do it. RTFM All RAID card manufacturers produce high quality manuals that explain the interworking of the card and give useful tips on configurations and troubleshooting. They typically take 30-60 minutes to read and will give insight into
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the sometimes archaic and nondescriptive error messages and warnings. If you didn’t read the manual when you installed it or didn’t install it in the first place, read the thing! If someone threw it in the trash, you can probably find it in ten seconds using your favorite search engine. Understand RAID-5 Concepts While outside the scope of this document here’s a short tutorial on how RAID devices work and how your data is stored on them. http://www.gillware.com/RAID5. php Understand What a RAID Rebuild Does and Doesn’t Do A rebuild doesn’t repair anything in the file system or make data accessible that previous wasn’t. Any data that’s missing will not magically appear after a rebuild. It doesn’t fix any corrupt files or partitions. It won’t make your server boot if it wasn’t booting in the first place. It does take the current state of affairs on a degraded array and restore redundancy. A good rule of thumb is to never initiate a rebuild unless all your data is currently accessible and 100% functional. Another good rule of thumb is that unless you’ve physically replaced a drive there probably isn’t much point in doing a rebuild in the first place. Presumably, the RAID card took a drive offline because it was troubled. If you force it online and make it the rebuild target, there’s a decent chance the RAID card is going to kick it offline again soon anyways. Unless the array is accessible and all of the important, recently updated data is proven valid, never run any RAID rebuilds. A RAID-5 rebuild
will simply take the current state of affairs on a degraded array and restore redundancy by doing XOR calculations on the degraded set and writing those calculated values onto a the new, healthy drive you just inserted when you replaced a failed one. If the current state of the union is the array is not mounting, the server isn’t bootable, or lots of the recently updated files are appearing corrupted or inaccessible, a rebuild may actually render this state of the union permanent. While the array will no longer be degraded, the newly redundant array is full of corrupted garbage. Test Your Backups on a Different Volume I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had clients notice two hard drives in a RAID-5 failed and simply replaced both drives (annihilating the previous volume) because they knew they had a solid recent backup. After the annihilation they restore hundreds of GB of data from the backup onto the new array. Then they realize that the backup was corrupted, incomplete, or many months old. This scenario is easily avoided by testing your backup on a storage array that has nothing to do with the hard drives inside the original failed array. Don’t make a rush decision to restore to the only available working drives. Instead, explain to the client your game plan is to source a new array, test all the backups, and then deal with the dead array. Never RMA or Re-Use Drives from the Failed Array until the Backup is Verified While it may seem like common sense to many, I’ve seen many scenarios where we call a client mid-
GILLWARE
recovery effort asking them where the other drives are. They inform us that the drive was dead, not even detecting in the controller, so they sent it back to the manufacturer for their warranty replacement. We shouldn’t need it, because it’s a RAID-5 and we only need N-1 drives. Then we let them know that one of the drives they sent to us actually was taken offline by the array many months ago and the drive they returned had died most recently because their array has been running degraded for months. The process of retrieving a drive that has been returned to a manufacturer is horrible and usually fruitless. If the Drives Are Detected, the RAID Card is Probably OK When a RAID device has failed, a common response from the manufacturer is to send a replacement RAID card, often at a large expense to the consumer. But if the drives are detected, the RAID card is probably OK. In other words, if it’s telling you stuff, it’s probably fine. If you can’t get the drives to detect, it’s possible the RAID card or the motherboard has issues. Don’t Assume a Hot-Spare Didn’t Engage We’ve seen many scenarios where an IT professional has yanked a hot-spare to use in a new storage array, fully confident that it never engaged and is blank. Again, verify your backups are current and consistent on another volume completely unrelated to the failed array before utilizing any of the failed array’s drives, including hot-spares. Be Extremely Wary of Forcing Drives Online Until a backup is verified, I’d almost say never force an offline drive online. The array likely took it offline for a reason: It was failing! Unless you know exactly when it was removed, and know for a fact that zero critical files were updated after that fact, it’s just a bad idea. If a drive failed many days or months ago, all data of relevant
size will be “corrupted” since the “stale epoch.” The newly updated data won’t actually be “corrupted,” a more appropriate term would be “incomplete.” Say you have a 3 drive array and the stripe size is 64kb. Now, you force a drive that failed months ago online. Any file bigger than 192kb is virtually guaranteed to have stripes of its binary run list residing across all three drives. Any file bigger than 192kb that has been created or updated subsequent to the initial drive failure is guaranteed to be full of “holes” and essentially useless. There would be a 1/3 chance that the actual file definitions of any file created or updated since the failure would be corrupted or missing. Often in these situations the operating system will notice these inconsistencies in the file system and run a “helpful” check-disk subroutine to “repair” these problems. These were not corruptions to be fixed, these were inconsistencies due to plugging a stale drive into the array. These “repairs” will permanently destroy valuable current data across all member drives, not just the “stale” one. Never Guess what the Parity, Rotation, Stripe, or Offsets were and Force a New Configuration. If you are not completely certain (because it’s documented in a log file or the technician setting it up was meticulous) then the odds of you guessing parity, rotation, stripe or offset configurations correctly are tiny. Guessing incorrectly can be catastrophic. The operating system may notice array or file system “corruption” and start running “repairs” which will be catastrophic. The file system indeed is corrupted from the operating systems point of view. The problem being it only appears corrupted because you have the wrong configuration. After these “repairs” are complete, even if you guess the correct configuration the second time around, it will be too late to salvage any of these file definitions that were “repaired.”
RAID TIPS
Never Plug in Independent RAID Drives “Individually” It is alarming the amount of folks we talk to who have removed all the individual members of an array and plugged them into USB chassis to run data recovery software to try and recover data. Not only is this a waste of time but it could be highly destructive. The operating system has no concept that it is looking at 1/4 of a RAID. It may automatically “fix corruptions” in the partition table, indexes, or master file table. There’s a high probability the drive will show up as unallocated or available space, and some misinformed IT staff will actually “initialize” the independent drive with a new volume in order to “access its data.” These drives weren’t corrupted in the first place, so “fixing” the “corruptions” will typically lead to massive data loss. Running off-the-shelf data recovery software on 1/3 of a 3 drive RAID-5 will yield 1/3 of the file definitions, none of the run-list entries will be correct (file definitions only make sense in the context of the full partition), and the only data yielded will be extremely tiny file definitions where the data was “resident” to the file-definition itself (tiny ini files or log files). Summary Don’t panic. Approach these situations with full knowledge of how RAID-5 works. If the RAID configuration utility warns you that you are about to destroy all the data with a particularly action, don’t do it. You should read and understand the RAID manufacturer’s manual before doing anything. You should only rebuild to a newly added drive if the volume is currently peachy but running degraded. Don’t re-use any of the drives in the failed volume until verifying your backups on a different set of hardware. If more than one drive is offline and you do not have a good backup, remove the drives from the array and contact a data recovery professional to assist you.
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STRATEGY
STORE
From Mobile T So it has now been 2 months since I made the move from being primarily a mobile and on-site tech to a shop-owner, businessman, entrepreneur, sponsor, and member of the downtown community.
What I mean by that long-winded introduction is what I would like to share with you today. These are all labels that you get when you take the step from home office to storefront. I started out fixing computers for friends and family over 10 years ago. It was my frustration with a local computer repair shop which led me to go back to school, and learn how to do this. I really enjoy fixing computers, working with them, and making them work for people. I am also blessed to have the opportunity to write this article in the ACRBO magazine, and to share my experience with fellow shop owners on the podcasts that I help with. If you are interested they are Podnutz Daily, Podnutz, Android App Addicts, at ponutz.com and The Unbootables which can be found at geeksters.tv. If you are considering taking the next step in your business to open a store I would like to share some of the process that I went through recently. While working on a computer problem
for one of my commercial customers, I overheard him discussing a lease with another businessman from our town of Rock Falls, Il.
This gentleman owns a former gas station that he has turned into a smoke shop (a store to buy tobacco, and every accessory you would need to consume it). He wanted to rent the vacant store next to my customer’s furniture store to have a computer shop. My customer told him to go away and that it was not for rent right now. After the guy left my customer told me that he didn’t want to rent it to him and give me competition. I said “It’s fine rent it to him” I felt confident that he would not hurt my business. As I left that day I kept trying to figure out if I could make that storefront work for me. I knew that the rent was much higher than I could afford, but I wondered if the added business of a great location like that would make up for it. This space is one business away from the busiest intersection in the county, and it has a stoplight that makes people look around. The next time I was at this customer’s furniture store (Fixing a serial controlled
LED sign) it was about 2 months later, and the same gentleman was in there again and they were finalizing a lease agreement. Now I started to feel kind of bummed because the “what ifs” really set in. I didn’t let it bother me too much and I went and visited this new shop about a month later to see if we could work together in any way.
When I walked in I was greeted with the smell of smoke, the place was dark, and there were about 50 used computers sitting everywhere. The computers were all used Pentium 4 or older, there was one computer on with a chair in front of it and a 8.5 x 11” sign that said “Internet Café”. As I looked around I noticed that they not only had a computer shop here, it was also a place to buy tools, and cigarettes! I talked to the owner and introduced myself. As far as working together he said that if I brought anyone into his shop he would give me 20% of the sale. I knew that was never going to happen so I left and never went back. Three months later that computer shop is out of business, and I am back at my customer’s store fixing an email problem. He then offers me the chance to rent that store. I was probably as broke as I had been in 7 years at this time for whatever reason, and I still had memories of how nasty that place was. I let him know both of these facts immediately, and he said he would work out a good deal with me. The next day after talking this over with my wife, I went and took a tour of the shop. It was mostly empty, still smelled like smoke, and was pretty gross even though the guy who took me over there said that they had cleaned it up. It was actually a lot bigger than I had remembered, and it had a nice backroom and a full basement. I looked it over and I could see it had potential but it would need a lot of work, paint, carpet, and money. The landlord then made me an offer to rent it that was much more than fair to me, and I took it. Luckily I have friends who refurbish old houses every day, so they did not really see my shop as a huge challenge. They really made it sound like it would be easy to make this a great place. I stayed in that building until midnight for
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STORE
STRATEGY
To Storefront
hard drives, and ipod cases. A good friend and computer business owner Liam Tidwell has really got me into fixing iPhones and cell phones, and I have to say this income stream has helped a lot getting started. I have let all of the cell phone shops know that I am available to fix broken screens, and other problems. This office can also be seen from the window of a new Verizon store which makes directions to me easy. I can already see that I will need to hire someone, because currently whenever I have an on-site job I just put up a note stating that I am helping another customer. I would like to offer pick-up and delivery service, because many of my customers are elderly, but I don’t want to miss anyone who is bringing their computer in.
about 4 weeks straight nearly every night destroying, cleaning, painting, and building things. If anyone visited that computer store, and stepped into this office now they would not be able to tell that it is the same building.
honestly not even finished cleaning or mopped the back room yet. The front of the office I have kept very open and clean. I don’t have much inventory to show off. I am keeping a few things that I know I will need for sale such as power supplies,
I don’t think that this has been an issue yet, and because of this problem I do not yet have posted hours on the building. I will try to do an update in the future and let you know what I learn as this goes along.
Eric Arduini Silicon Wrench www.siliconwrench.com
I am staying busy now, and though I don’t have as much foot traffic as I had expected, I have picked up quite a few new customers every week since I opened on March 1st. This was my official opening day, but I was working on computers all through the construction, and the moving. The last piece of the shop went together 2 weeks ago when I finally got my sign up out front. I have had two write-ups in the newspaper since I took over the building and I have been sponsoring a youth softball team, and I also sponsored a river clean up last weekend. This is all of the advertising that I have done so far, and I plan on a ribbon cutting, and doing a Chamber of Commerce “Business After Hours Event” later this summer. There is always something to do here, and I have been so busy that I have
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27
STRATEGY
LOYALTY
Customer Loyalty Retain customers and increase your profit by making your customers loyal Loyal customers are the foundation of almost every business. Going the extra mile to provide outstanding customer service is the first step to customer loyalty. But there is more. Of course - your products and services in general need to be good. If you offer lousy uptime there is not really a reason to be loyal when being a customer. You just don’t deliver, period. Here are a few more suggestions to gain customer loyalty. 1) Be smart. Be smarter than your customers are. Make sure you and your staff always (no exceptions) have more answers than your customers have questions. Most people are very loyal to expertise and proven skills. 2) Pay Attention. Pay attention to what your customers really want from you and what they really are hoping to find. If you see a pattern
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- follow it and adjust accordingly. 3) Attitude and outfit. Show positive attitude. Always be on time; never ever run late when a customer is involved. Be professional, act professional. If you meet with a customer - don’t look like coming from working in your yard. Don’t over-dress either. 4) Dump any strict policies. Don’t make customers think, that doing business with you is a risk. Be generous and flexible. Every situation is unique - so can be your decisions. If a customer is not satisfied, give them their money back and try spinning this into a learning experience. 5) Don’t hire unlikable people. Nobody likes to give money to someone they don’t like. Even if your staff might never really talk to customers and only communicates via email or on the phone - a
personality will always shine through. A customer will feel after a while, who he is dealing with. 6) Don’t be pushy. Don’t try to push a customer to something they don’t want, they don’t need or they are not sure about. Show options, be patient. Customers like that more than a stupid sales pitch. 7) Offer superior products. Add a little more too each product or service than necessary. None of these things alone with get you loyal customers, but a combination of things will make it very difficult for a customer to leave. If you get a customer to this point, you are able to ask for a higher price for your products and most of them will be happy to pay a little more so that they can continue to enjoy the service and the products that you provide.