Run My Business

New Podcast Is Up!

2005-01-01T22:06:00.000-06:00

Alright everyone, the new podcast is up! Here's the RSS link. Enjoy.

And remember I want people to come up with ideas. That's the whole idea after all. So let 'em come flooding in. I'm man enough. Are you?

Here we go again!

2004-12-30T20:41:00.000-06:00

Alright first, I'd like to apologize for falling off the face of the earth lately. Some might call me a podcastinator (get it?). The good news is that I've been so busy lately that I haven't had the time or energy for the podcast. Second, I'd like to announce the triumphant return of the Run My Business podcast! I recently quit my part-time job and am putting everything I have into the business. That includes, finally, new episodes.

Yes, that's right. I'm getting off of my butt and revin' up the engine on the old podcast setup.

I'm going on about 2 jobs a day now ranging from 1 to 2 billable hours. I realize this is pretty good for a 3 month old business. But why stop there? I say, strike while the iron is hot! So this is where all of you come in. The foundation of the business is in place, now were going to start adding features (like any good open source project).

So let me have it. I don't just want to hear what you think I should do. I want to hear what you would do if you were starting a business. I know there's a lot of creative minds out there, let's put them to use and change the way people look at business models!

Email me at runmybusiness@gmail.com feel free to attach a voice comment in mp3 format. Or just comment to this post.

Let's do this!

Sorry, no podcast today

2004-11-01T14:11:00.003-06:00

Ok, so no podcast today. I'm waiting to hear back from a few people regarding radio advertisement. So, I will be doing the weekly podcast tomorrow.

I've also added an rss link to this blog on the right hand side of the page to help everyone keep up with the new posts. I've also updated the calendar.

Talk to you all tomorrow.

Very Late Night

2004-10-30T02:16:00.000-05:00

Ok, just got back from my glamorous pizza delivery job. It's about 2 A.M. and I have a job tomorrow at 9:00 A.M. But, such is the life of an entrepreneur.

Sorry about the lack of posts lately, I've been very busy. I told everyone that I'd report on how the three jobs on Wednesday found out about me. So here goes.

Job #1 - Word Of Mouth
Job #2 - Newspaper Ad
Job #3 - Newspaper Ad

So maybe those ads are working. Of course between jobs 1 and 2 I got a call from one of the newspaper companies and told him the ad didn't show an adequate return for me. I might have to call him back.

As for advertising, I think I've decided to seriously look into radio. It's expensive, but I think the exposure would be much greater than anything I've done so far. I may also call the one newspaper I've been seeing returns from and re-run the ad there.

Oh, and sorry about the little sing-a-long in the fourth and most recent podcast. I forgot to edit out the entertaining my girlfriend part. My mom was sure to inform me of this error. Thanks mom.

TDavid also posted a review of my podcast on his site http://podcast-reviews.blogspot.com/ Thanks for the pointers about the business AND the podcast. I'm going to address some of said pointers on the next podcast.

So, keep those ideas rolling in. Now, I must sleep.

Go Sox!

2004-10-27T21:06:00.000-05:00

I've got to keep this short. The Sox are about to win the world series during a lunar eclipse.....AWESOME!

Anyway, 2 of the 3 jobs I had today came from one of the local newspaper ads. The other came from word of mouth. I promise more tomorrow. After the Red Sox win the series!!

One more job scheduled

2004-10-26T11:53:00.000-05:00

Ok, I have another job scheduled for Wednesday. It's going to be a busy day. With the second job I'm forced to funnel most of my jobs into one day. Well, the theory is, eventually I can drop the second job and it won't be such an issue.

Since I don't make a habit of asking where they found out about us over the phone. So on Wednesday I'll be able to report where these new jobs are coming from.

Now I think I might go buy the new Grand Theft Auto game (guilty pleasure)

Two jobs scheduled today

2004-10-25T21:30:00.000-05:00

Ok, so today I scheduled two jobs for Wednesday. I'm not sure how they heard about me yet (I don't make it a habit to ask over the phone). But, I will find out from both on Wednesday and post it here.

I guess that's about it for this post. Talk to everyone tomorrow.

New Calendar, Finally!

2004-10-24T19:19:00.000-05:00

Ok, I finally got a good calendar up and running. Just click on the "View My Calendar" button on the right to see what I'm doing in the near future.

Yet another update

2004-10-23T22:23:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody. First I want to say thanks for all of the feedback. There's some really good ideas floating around out there. I can't wait to hear more of them. Ok now down to business.

I have changed the hourly rate to $40 straight. I am thinking of working the discounted additional hourly rate into some sort of a promotion though (Thanks Chad in Kenosha, WI).

Scott posted a comment here on Thursday's post about Wiki. I've heard of it before, but I'm looking for something that would allow me to post my schedule and let people make suggestions or even changes to that schedule. For instance, if people think I should spend a couple of hours doing footwork one day they could suggest it on the schedule. Then I could finalize it if it works.

As for the podcast. I'm planning on making it a weekly thing. I'll continue to post here daily. I'll also record a podcast if there's any big news. The next regularly scheduled podcast will be Monday. Then every Monday after that.

I'm going to go over some ideas about advertising on Monday's podcast. Also, if anyone has some original ideas to get my name out there drop me a line or a voice attachment to runmybusiness@gmail.com

Alright, talk to all of you Monday.

Another day, another dollar

2004-10-21T13:51:00.000-05:00

Well, not much to report today. I received two suggestion via email yesterday. I incorporated them into the podcast.

The suggestions were using a template to make the site look more professional (by Peter in the Netherlands). Also, to raise my rates to a straight $40/hr (by Chad in Kenosha, WI). Both of which I should have changed by the end of the week.

By the way. The website is at www.callthecomputerguy.net

I'm off to get some coffee to fuel me for the rest of the day.

Talk to you tomorrow.

2004-10-20T13:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, nothing much happened yesterday. Delivered pizzas, talked to my marketing guy, and so on. We decided that advertising in small papers.

The ad was in 3 different papers and was exposed to up to 30,000 pairs of eyes. I have scheduled 1 call so far off of it. Hanging door hangs and flyers in other businesses have resulted in roughly 10 calls in the same time period. Weird.

I'm going to record the podcast now. So, check it out.

P.S. If anyone knows how to get listed as a "New Podcast" on ipodder.org let me know.

It Begins!

2004-10-19T14:49:00.001-05:00

Ok, I just submitted the link to the podcast at ipodder.org

Let's see if this thing is going to work. If anything will get it up and running it's ipodder. If you haven't checked it out yet, do it. It's like TiVo for your mp3 player. Contrary to the name it will work with any mp3 player. All of the directions for getting my podcast are there.

As promised in the podcast here is the logo and text I am using for the business. The design and wording are pretty firm, but any suggestions are still welcome.

In addition to commenting on this blog you can send me voice attachments to runmybusiness@gmail.com they just have to be under 10MB.

Well I'm off to deliver pizza pies to the world.

Company Logo

Here We Go!

2004-10-19T01:22:00.000-05:00

Ok, here's the theory.

Lately I've started a business in my area. I am providing affordable in-home computer service to residential customers. I've quit my job at the local cable company (I was working as a PC technician), cashed out my 401k, threw caution to the wind, and am currently grabbing for that brass ring.

I have also been really into ipodder as of late. This brings me to the fun part.

Tonight while delivering pizza to the masses and listening to the latest podcasts, yes it's not all glitz and glamour in the world of the entrepreneur, it hit me. The coolest things about ipodder and blogging are the potential for whole new methods of communication, the collaborative nature of it all.

The Plan:

- Inform anyone and everyone who cares to know everything about my business (schedules, income, expenses, etc.)

- Strictly follow all suggestions and polls about day to day business decisions

- Follow current open source models as closely as possible

- Update podcast and blog daily with all information regarding to the company (schedules, money, marketing, etc.)

I think that does it for the basics. I should have the podcast up soon. I'll be able to give the entire rundown that way. I'll also be incorporating comments here and mp3 attachments to runmybusiness@gmail.com into the show.

So if anyone sees this before the podcast let the comments begin! Think of it as your chance to try all of those great ideas out while letting me take all the risk. I don't mind.