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

There is a new piece of exploit code circulating on the web that takes advantage of the SMB v2 service in Windows Vista to remotely access your computer.

At this time there is no patch to fix the problem (although the problem was repaired in the final release of Windows 7). Bevause thuis is a new exploit, it is also likely that any attackers using this code could also bypass your security software.

To TEMPORARILY fix this problem, there is a utility you can download to turn of the SMB v2 service. This may impact your home networking situation depending on your configuration, however it will not impact most users at all.

In the absence of a patch, here’s what you can do:

* Click Here To Disable SMBv2

To revert the workaround, and re-enable SMBv2, you can:

* Click Here To Re-Enable SMBv2

A couple days back I stopped into the shop to drop some things off and I had my 3-year old son Jake with me.

After a few minutes the guys had him up on a stool and working – and Jake loved it!

I can’t believe a company like Apple or even AT&T can treat their customers this way and expect to keep them loyal.  Here is what I just sent to Apple’s feedback email address (like anyone will ever read it):

I don’t even know where to begin.  My business iPhone just died in the middle of a text message today.  It will not turn on again at all.  It was purchased October 11, 2008 (less than a year old) at the AT&T store in Lincoln, NE (68516).

I live in Omaha, NE (68108) and there is an Apple store here.  I called 611 from my iPhone to find out what we need to do to get her phone replaced.  After 5 dropped calls, and a total of more than 20 minutes on hold, I finally got through to an Apple support representative (who was really an AT&T support representative).

He informed me that AT&T does not have any stores in Omaha.  (Here’s a link to the half-dozen AT&T stores in Omaha )

I read him the numbers for the first three, and he tried to call and was unable to get through to a representative (in one case the number was disconnected!)

I gave up on him and called the AT&T store where I bought the phone in Lincoln and spoke to the manager.  He informed me that the AT&T store where we bought the iPhone can’t replace it at all.  Even though my phone is less than a year old, it has to be done at an Apple store.  No exceptions.

So I called the Apple store.  The representative there told me that he couldn’t set up an appointment at the Genius Bar, so I would have to go online and do it.

FRUSTRATING.  SO now an hour after I started, I go online only to find that I have to wait 2 DAYS for an appointment.

Needless to say at this moment I am seriously missing my HTC touch from Sprint.  I doubt anyone will actually read this, and if anyone does they won’t be empowered to do anything about it in my case or as part of an aggregated policy, but it makes me feel better to send it.

I love my iPhone, but this is not the Apple service that has differentiated your company in the past, and I can honestly say I will be looking at other options in the future for my business telephone needs.

UPDATE 9:35 AM 9/14/2009.  Bruce Nelson with InfoUSA emailed me the following:

Just read your post and wanted to let you know that the pop up for the sample record on the Choose Your Package page (Park Drive Garage) is a dummy record.

It comes up regardless what set of criteria (SIC Code, geography) you choose.

It used to pull an actual record from the list you built, but it was becoming a performance issue, so we just put a static example recently. Your post brings to light that we really need to change the text to let people know that it is not one of the records you will be getting in your list.

This afternoon I did some research for marketing a computer repair company resource website.  I planned on directly marketing the website to computer repair companies, and to do that I needed a list to work from.

The first name that came to mind was InfoUSA, and I was thrilled to find that their lists can be purchased online through an automated system!

InfoUSA Sells BIG Lists But…

I entered SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) numbers 7378 and 7379 and their system returned just over 38,000 results.  The price of the list was a WHOPPING $6,227.00!

For that price I  might as well build a bot to harvest names and phone numbers from computer repair web searches on Google.  Harvested lists are rarely accurate, and can lead to wasted marketing dollars, but you would have to waste a lot of money to get to $6,000.

Holy Proofreading Batman!

InfoUSA has a cool feature where you can preview an entry from the list you are about to buy.  Before I dropped my cash on the table, I took a look at what my $6,000 was going to buy:

There is no excuse for a result for the Park Drive Garage showing up in a database search for computer repair companies.  I entered SPECIFIC SIC codes that should have returned only computer repair companies.

They obviously had this business listed in a database somewhere with an Automotive Repair SIC code.  It’s RIGHT THERE in the sample result!

Why would I pay $.16 per name for a list of businesses that will have no interest in an IT shop website?

If InfoUSA can’t manage their results database, there is no way I am going to trust them to sell me a targeted list for a marketing campaign.

Anyone know a good coder who can build a bot for me?

Today is the anniversary of the September 11th attack.  I thought about writing a thoughtful post on what it means to be an American, how America has led the world for the past 100 years, and how we are art risk of losing that edge to the Chinese and others in the next 100 years.

Well, that was too depressing for me today, so instead I thought I would illustrate some differences between George W Bush and Obama.  I firmly believe that Barack Obama’s policies are a disaster for this country.  I believe there will be a day when those who voted for Obama will realize they got duped (those few that still don’t know that already).

These posts typically get snapped up in the search engines and then hacks from both sides snipe back and forth and the truth is so obfuscated that no one can decipher what is really going on.

Rather than the usual, I thought I would let these two leaders speak for themselves.  Here are some notable quotes from Bush and Obama:

Barack Obama Quotes:

America is a Nation with a mission – and that mission comes from our most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace – a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman.

America is the land of the second chance – and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life.

Americans are rising to the tasks of history, and they expect the same of us.

For diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible – and no one can now doubt the word of America.

If you’re sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign.

Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people.

George W. Bush Quotes:

As a nuclear power – as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon – the United States has a moral responsibility to act.

If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.

It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.

Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terrorism have reduced the pace of military transformation and have revealed our lack of preparation for defensive and stability operations.

Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris. The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow.

There is not a liberal America and a conservative America – there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America – there’s the United States of America.

Today we are engaged in a deadly global struggle for those who would intimidate, torture, and murder people for exercising the most basic freedoms.

We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated.

Now here’s the real test. Some of you read all the way to the bottom before you fired from the hip. You THOUGHT about what these quotes meant before you applied them to the media templates that exist for these men. You are the REAL American patriots here.

You are the only ones who know that I switched the attribution for the above quotes. The Obama quotes were actually Bush quotes, and the Bush quotes were actually spoken by Obama.

Actions speak louder than words, and I am watching Obama’s actions. They don’t match what he is saying and THAT is why I am scared for America’s future.

As I type this I am downloading the 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate 3 GB ISO through the Microsoft Action Pack Subscription program. Minutes ago I received an email from Microsoft informing me that the download was now available.

This is not a beta, or a release candidate.  This is the all-out full version of Windows 7.  This is going to be a fun night!  1.5 hours remaining on download…

Now where did I put that solid state hard drive again?

Microsoft is reporting today that the “Tear-drop attack” sample code that was claimed to successfully crash Windows 7 remotely can’t touch Microsoft’s upcoming golden child.

It seems that the person who was testing the code tested it on a release candidate version of Windows 7.  The release candidate was impacted by the security problem, however Microsoft responded in their bulletin that the final release of Windows 7 (pressed to DVDs in July) is not impacted by the flaw.

This is the first specific example of a security threat impacting Windows Vista that was preemptively blocked by Windows 7.

I am sure there will be other exposed threats that will impact Windows 7, but this victory comes just in time for 7′s October 22nd release.  Windows 7 is expected to be the most advanced operating system on the planet (a claim that Apple is making in their music on hold right now about Snow Leopard).

The latest fake-alert variant spreading on the web right now attempts to play on the passions of the green-Earth movement to trick unsuspecting victims into installing fake security software.

Green AV infects your computer through click jacking (only Norton 360 can stop it).

The new threat actually plays off of a Norton 360 trade name, calling itself the 3.0 Premier Edition, and claims to be the “World’s First Antivirus Which Cares About the Environment.”

Unlike other fake alert infections, Green AV demands a price premium for those who are unfortunate enough to fall for the scam.  Typically fake alert infections demand around $50 to stop popping up in your face and “heal” your PC.  Green AV demands $99.

Green-AV’s website reads:

Fighting viruses, spyware, malware is not only a question of security. Spyware actualy abuses your computer, overuses CPU speed, network bandwidth, makes your PC run slow. As a result you start consuming more power, working longer, think of replacing your PC with a new one which brings more unrecyclable wastes (many computer’s parts contain toxic wastes).

This way Green AV actualy cares about the environment. We thought that our application can guard not only your PC, but whole Earth – our home planet. So to show how much we care we desided to send $2 from each product sale on saving green forests in Amazonia.

The misspellings, poor English, and the fictional land of Amazonia should tip off any reasonable person that this is a scam.

Kim and I had a great time cheering the Nebraska Cornhuskers to victory yesterday over the Florida Atlantic Owls.  This was the Husker’s season opener and the first game that Kim and I have been able to enjoy from the skybox.

It was a blowout game with Nebraska winning 49-3, although the Huskers are going to have to tighten some things up if they expect to do well in Big 12 Conference play.

Our skybox used to belong to Larry the Cable Guy.  Even though the bathroom is literally right outside the door of our skybox, every time Larry opened his door there was a throng of autograph-seeking fans waiting for him.  Larry (Dan is his real name) has kids, and it made it tough to enjoy the game with his family at times.

Larry moved on over to one of the new North Stadium skyboxes that has its own bathroom to resolve the situation.  Aside from giving Larry a new kind of stadium seat, it gave us the opportunity to log a few games in his old skybox!

The skybox was definitely nice (it had better be at an annual price tag of $85,000).  We had a dedicated hostess who was there to make sure we had everything we needed.  All of the typical stadium favorites were available (hot dogs, pizza, etc..) and they are even more irresistible when they are absolutely fresh from the oven.

Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne sat about 20 feet from us, and he was just as calm and reserved as he was when he was coaching the Huskers on the sideline.  He mechanically ate one tortilla chip every 42.5 seconds, took notes after every play, and did not speak to anyone that I saw.

Occasionally you would catching him nodding ever so slightly in approval.  By the third quarter those tortilla chips started catching up with him.  If you were quick you could see him dozing off a little once the Huskers had the third stringers in the game.

We can’t wait for next week!

Most computer repair companies are started by technicians or IT professionals. They are usually confident in their technology skills, have experience serving customers for others, and believe they can earn a significant income if they were only working for themselves instead.

When an IT professional takes the entrepreneurial leap, the immediate focus usually lands on how to acquire clients, customers, or jobs.

As the newly-born entrepreneur sets out to build a business, he or she finds that for some reason they are having a tough time making ends meet even though they are working twice as hard as they did in their previous job.

That single misstep is why many IT professionals will fail to find success within the first year of their entrepreneurial venture and will be pressured back into servitude as an independent contractor or employee.

What good does it do to ferociously hunt new clients and customers if you are not able to have profitable interactions with them when you do find them?

Before you leave your job, before you invest the first dollar in your future, and before you even attempt to get your first client, you need a revenue model.

What is a Revenue Model?

Simply put, a revenue model is how you plan on making money by satisfying your clients’ needs.

Take a moment to think about the businesses you have interacted with today. Why did you buy what you bought?

Gas stations will offer inexpensive fountain drinks, hoping you will grab a bag of chips or a candy bar to go with it. McDonald’s asks you to try their latest sandwich for free with the purchase of fries and a drink in the hope your come back for more. Even my plumber was using a revenue model when he tried sold me a “hydro-scrub” of my sewer line for $50.

The point of a revenue model is to have a basket of products and services available that your customers might need, and then moving them through those products and services in a way that maximizes the profitability of each interaction with those customers.

Components of a Sales Model

Revenue models have 9 basic components. No matter what mix of products and services you keep in your basket, you need to know exactly what they are and how they interact with each other in your revenue model.
Your revenue model needs to:

1. Have a client (A Customer Who Presents A Problem)
2. Have a solution that resolves your client’s problem
3. Bridge that Solution to Another Item in Your Basket of Products and Services
4. Provide an Opportunity to Investigate for Further Up-Sell Opportunities
5. Close the Sale With the Customer in a Compelling Way
6. Back-sell With Customer to Reaffirm Their Decision
7. Deliver the Products and Services that Were Promised
8. Back-sell Again in Person to Prevent any Buyer’s Remorse Feelings
9. Stand Behind Your Warranty With a SMILE if it is Called in

How to Build Your Revenue Model

Building a revenue model is not a daunting task. In recent years there has even been a counter-push against revenue models in light of hyper-successful companies like Google that did not have a revenue model when they started.

The truth is that for every Google there are hundreds of thousands of business failures that a good revenue model might have prevented.

It is easiest to think about your revenue model as the thread that links your products and services together. Just because you offer a Maintenance Checkup, or Anti-Virus software, or memory upgrades doesn’t mean that people will come to you looking for them.

You need to have a planned way to let your clients know what you have that they can use and give them compelling reasons why they should let you solve their problems.
Steps to creating your revenue model:

1. List all of the products and services you offer. It might be easier to list each one on a note card so you can literally line them up in the order they might happen.
2. Determine which of your products or services will satisfy the largest number of clients. I creat5ed the Maintenance Checkup because it has a little of everything. Every computer problem touches the Maintenance Checkup in some way. It was a great way for me to get my leads into my revenue model. This is called your gateway offering.
3. Starting from your gateway offering, develop lines of reason – based on specific problems – that would lead you to recommend each of your other products or services under certain circumstances. For example, if you offer data recovery services, a customer complaining of a blue screen of death may be suffering from a failing hard drive. When this happens what options will your customer have?
4. Take the model one step further into your product and service basket. Continuing from the example above, does that data recovery customer need a new hard drive? Did the hard drive die because it was being over-used for virtual memory because the computer does not have enough physical memory? Find one more thing that the customer needs (assuming they truly need anything additional) and figure out how you would offer it.
5. Rehearse your pitch. Nothing sounds worse than a person who sounds like they don’t believe what they are saying or know what they are talking about. Find someone who won’t think you are crazy and role play. Ask your partner to challenge you. This is best done with a non-technician because that is who your customer will be.
6. Make real-life adjustments. When you are implementing your revenue model there will be times when you have to make adjustments based on input from your client.  Remember that people don’t buy what they can’t afford.

Up-Selling is Not Evil Unless You are Evil

Some technicians find the revenue model – or selling in general – to be distasteful. I even consulted with one business owner whose entire reason for going into business was because other repair shops i town were “always trying to sell something.”

A good revenue model does more than generate profits for the company that employs it. Businesses that are successful in the long-term rely on repeat customers and word of mouth.

A good revenue model is designed to extract as much profit from a customer interaction as possible while at the same time providing superior services that are deserving of a premium price.

Life Without a Sales Model

Consider for a moment how awful your experience as a consumer would be if the companies you visited today did not employ a good sales model.

If the gas station didn’t have the inexpensive fountain drinks, you may have never found what has become your favorite snack. If McDonald’s didn’t get you to try that new sandwich you might have eaten the same old thing every day. If my plumber didn’t sell me that hydro-scrub, the scent of old poop might be wafting up my drains right now.

Superior revenue models deliver good products and services at a price the customer is willing – and in most cases eager – to pay.

Failing to recognize the need for a systematized sales model is the single greatest factor in the failure of small businesses in general. Having a good revenue model will put you 10 steps ahead of most of the IT shops and consultants in your market. Ignore the need for a revenue model at your own peril.