Peanuts to Profits With Thor Schrock
Peanuts to Profits With Thor Schrock

Alarm Equipment Inc. (AEI) in Omaha, NE came to Schrock Innovations for a website “freshening” a few months ago.

AEI’s website was not ranking in Google for the key search terms they needed to bring in new alarm business. Today more people use Google than the Yellow Pages so ranking when it counts can be vital to a business’ success!

AEI Asked Schrock Innovations to modify their existing website to modernize its look and improve its SEO performance without changing the basic layout and styling of the existing website.

Microsoft is making Windows 7 available for pre-order now through July 10, 2009!

Order your copy of Windows 7 and installation from Schrock Innovations and save 58% off of the software’s regular purchase price!

Windows 7 Installed for Only $219.99!?!

If you have ever purchased an operating system upgrade, you know that they normally cost hundreds of dollars and can take a degree in computer science to install successfully.

Between drivers, updates, and lost files upgrading your operating system can be a real challenge – Unless you let Schrock’s award-winning technicians do it for you!

Microsoft announced a special Windows 7 pre-order program today that offers the company’s newest operating system at a DEEPLY discounted price. But is your computer ready for Windows 7?

There are two basic camps of people who will be upgrading to Windows 7 – Vista users and XP users (Windows 2000 users can also technically upgrade, but in many cases their hardware is so old that ot will be incompatible).

Testing Windows Vista PCs for an Upgrade to Windows 7

Vista users will have a pretty easy time upgrading to Windows 7. Microsoft is promising that everything that works with Vista will work with Windows 7.

When you run the upgrade disk, Windows 7 moves all of your documents, settings, registry, and programs to a holding directory. It then installs a clean copy of Windows 7 and copies all of your information back over. This eliminates many of the layered operating system problems that plagued XP and older upgrades.

In theory, everything should just work after the installation, but if you want that extra measure of comfort, you can run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to check for any issues.

Testing Windows XP PCs for an Upgrade to Windows 7

Windows XP users will have a bit of a tougher time upgrading.

It is HIGHLY recommended that you ru the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. There is a good chance that some of your hardware and/or software will not be compatible with Windows 7.

As a rule of thumb, if your software is not compatible with Vista, it will not be compatible with Windows 7.

With that said, the business and Ultimate versions of Windows 7 have a special feature that allows you to download and run a virtualized copy of Windows XP from within Windows 7.

Think of it like running Windows XP as if it was a program, and then opening up other programs from within it. This will allow business users who rely on older software (and lazier IT staffs) to still run many of their old XP programs in a limited form. There is no additional charge for the virtualized XP download.

When new web clients come to me they all seem to want one thing – They want to rank well in Google to get FREE business leads. Before you start to navigate the thorny paths of search engine optimization, take advantage of what Google gives you for FREE.  Take 5 minutes to list your business […]

Schrock Innovations has hired Steve Borland to head our Data Recovery Division!

Steve is a promising technician and an entrepreneur in his own right. His company, Minaska Outdoors, makes some of the highest quality gaming calls on the market. His made-in-the-USA products can be found in retail locations like Cabella’s. The electronic game calls his company produces can bring animals within 10 feet with the push of a button!

Why Schrock Likes to Hire Entrepreneurs

Steve started his company from the ground up. Now that he has people performing the company’s day-to-day operations, he thought it was time to try something new. Steve is returning to his PC roots to use his 10+ years of experience for Schrock’s customers.

Some company owners are hesitant to hire people who have an entrepreneurial blend of talents. A smart business owner is one who is willing to hire people who can do things he can’t do – or doesn’t have the time to do. Rather than feeling threatened by an employee’s drive and ambition, smart business owners visualize the amazing things that could be accomplished if their company was able to harness those entrepreneurial abilities.

A few weeks ago I posted about a special offer we put together to help get Vista’s Service Pack 2 safely installed on computers before it is force-fed to our customers via automatic update on June 30th. The response was pretty good, and we were turning around most of the installs (even the problem children) in less than a day.

We cut a new commercial that is running on local Lincoln television to promote the offer as well. Take a look:

The Midlands Business Journal runs some really informative articles on subjects and trends that can seem daunting to many business owners. When they are doing a feature on a technology related subject they will often ask for some comments on the basic questions they plan on writing about in the feature.

Michelle Leach is one of the MBJ’s most talented writers and she recently sent me an email with some questions about data recovery and data backup. Here were some of the questions she asked and how I answered them:

You read that right! Schrock Innovations is teaming up with 104.1 The Blaze in Lincoln, NE to give away one FREE netbook computer EVERY DAY for a whole month!

How to Win One of the Schrock Netbooks:

All you have to do to win is listen to 104.1 the Blaze on the air or on the Internet and wait for the cue to call in. When you hear the sounder, be caller #10 at 402-464-1041. They will air the sounder once each day.

Improve Your Odds of Winning:

If you are trying to win by listening online I have a couple pointers for you. The online feed is delayed by upto 45 seconds. Since you have to be caller #10 to win the computer a time delay will make that challenging for online listeners.

You can improve your odds (and get more sleep) if you follow the Blaze on Twitter. They will tweet specific details about when the sounder will be going off so you can be one of the first people to call in. Knowing WHEN the souder will happen dramatically improves your odds of winning!

What Are You Trying to Win:

You are trying to win an Asus netbook from Schrock Innovations. The netbook has a retail price of $349. Because the promotion is called PCs and Pudding, the radio station will throw in a box of instant pudding as well. If you don’t know how to use a netbook, the instant pudding is a nice addition to any office.

I have no inside information about when the sounders are going to air, and I can’t do anything more than what I already have to improve your odds of winning, so enjoy the great music and have fun trying to win!

Netbooks are the latest arrival on the computing scene and are rapidly gaining popularity and acceptance among serious computer users. In fact, there are reports that even Apple who one said netbooks were “junky” is bowing to the pressure to enter the netbook game.

What is a Netbook?

Basically, netbooks are miniature laptop computers. They have screens that range from 7.5 to 10 inches, small keyboards, wireless capability, and often don’t come with CD drives.

Netbooks are designed to be small, light and run a LONG time on a small battery. For example, Schrock Innovations carries the Asus netbook line in our Computer Service Center. These netbooks weigh in at less than 2 pounds, last 5-6 hours on a single battery charge, and have enough power to run Windows XP or Windows 7 comfortably.

Just a few days ago I told you about an interesting meeting I had with Lynn Hinderaker, the man who invented the fast food value menu and literally transformed Taco Bell into what it is today.

Since that post, Lynn was also featured in the World Herald with some additional detail of what he did for Taco Bell, how he transformed a high-cost-low-profit company into a low-cost-high-profit national icon.

If you are loking for an inspiring story in a challenging economy give Lynn a call. I am know as an idea guy, and he found a few things for Schrock that were right in front of my face that I had not seen!