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063: Entrepreneurial Spirit

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Recorded live on August 12, 2014

Topics:

- origin stories: how we (Jerry, Sam, and Joe) got into this racket

- how to make the transition: going from working for a company to working for yourself

- moonlighting vs. jumping in with both feet

- is entrepreneurship "in the blood"?

Also:

- Aces Conf in New Orleans, LA, May 2015; acesconf.com; great opportunity to see Luis Giraldo of Ook and Justin Esgar of Virtua Computers talk shop and focus on business processes

Special Feature: CCP Video Chat with Chuck Joiner on MacVoices

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We were recently honored to be invited to Chuck Joiner's popular MacVoices podcast – "the Talk of the Mac Community."

Command Control Power on MacVoices

Command Control Power on MacVoices

Wondering what we look like and how we work? Curious about what kind of headphones and microphones we use?

Check us out in all our video glory!

MacVoices #14187: The Crew From Command-Control-Power Discuss Apple Consulting from All Sides

052: Aloha 'Joe"

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040: Remote Support Workflows and Coverage when Traveling

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Recorded live March 4, 2014

Topics:

- Rumpus FTP server

- Device Enrollment Program; there goes 15 minutes billable/device… leaving more time for client face-time?

- remote support and workflows for being away from the office, either at a conference or on holiday

- Wi-Fi quality in hotels when traveling

- timing vacations as extended weekends instead of full weeks to minimize downtime

- teaming up with local consultants for backup coverage; filtering incoming requests in your absence

- away messages and advance notice for clients; why shake the hornet's nest?

- SendLater plugin

- going off the grid for a day... or nine… I took nine.

- subcontractor rates; professional courtesies

- SIMporium.com

- representing the contracting company, or generically Apple, or explaining the coverage arrangement between the consultants to the client

- sharing secure notes with trusted partner consultants; e.g. MonkeyBox.com

- monitoring client machines with Watchman Monitoring

- the importance of comprehensive documentation

Followup:

- re: episode 039: when enabling (Legacy) FileVault on 10.6 and prior, there's an option to "use secure erase" when deleting the old home folder after it's been migrated to the encrypted disk image

033: Marketing and Followup

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Recorded on January 14, 2014

Topics:

- Promise Pegasus R6, 4 TB RAID 6 failed 1 TB drive replacement – live rebuild during a workday, approximately 3 hours; Promise Utility had reported a PFA condition on Drive #5; sent log to Promise support who authorized an advance shipment RMA; drive reported several bad blocks the next day and went offline; drive replaced and RAID rebuilt successfully in 3.5 hours

- Google's algorithms rank local sites higher for local service providers

- Google text ads are often clicked indiscriminately by "normal" people even though we technical people often avoid them

- "white hat" vs. "black hat" SEO techniques

- put your phone number at the top of every page

- put your email address on the page; spam is a solved problem

- good to have separate pages for each type of service you offer, e.g. Remote vs. Onsite

- being a salesperson without sounding like a salesperson

- giving away your time on "good faith" and asking the client to write a good referral; prospects look for recent referrals

- alternatives to the ACN Consultants Locator for reviews, e.g. Yelp

- however, be wary: Yelp often removes positive reviews written by legitimate users, if those users have only posted one review; also, it has been reported that "Yelp will help you remove bad reviews…for a price."

031: Help Desk Ticketing Systems and Year-End Purchases

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What do I do?

What do I do?

Recorded live on December 17, 2013

Topics:

- Zendesk: Starter Plan @ $1 per Agent per month

- forward emails to help desk, ticket shows original email sender as Requester

- using help desk for calls, scheduling requests, and tasks

- continue using email for quick questions

- formal "discovery" process for new clients, or doing smaller/easier tasks before larger projects

- great to see outcome of others' tickets

- configure triggers to CC lead or admin on High Priority tickets

- End of Year purchases

- selling old equipment for clients for commission vs. fixing and selling old machines inherited from clients

Picks of the Week:

- Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal – Jerry's pick

- Promise Pegasus2 R4 Diskless 4Bay Thunderbolt 2 RAID System – Joe's pick

Plus:

- Mavericks classes coming in January! Visit InstructUs Training or your local AATC for class schedules. First possible 101 class is 1/6/14.  First possible 201 class is 1/22/14.

- Mavericks training books out December 30, 2013